Hamlin dominates, Earnhardt wrecks, Bowyer steals win at RIR

Look up the definition for Saturday night short track racing and you’ll find Richmond International Raceway listed as the location with the date of May 3, 2008. The Crown Royal 400 Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday night was the epitome of temperamental, unpredictable, good, old fashioned racing.

Virginia native Denny Hamlin won the Nationwide Series event on Friday and many were in the process of sharpening their pencils in order to write his name into the history books in the Cup event but after leading a record-setting 381 laps, Hamlin suffered a flat tire forcing him to lose the lead 17 laps from the finish.

Hamlin slowed his pace with 20 laps to go, feeling the right front tire in his No. 11 Toyota beginning to go soft. The second and third place entries of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch went three-wide with Hamlin with Earnhardt prevailing and moving into the lead.

Still winless after 10 races with Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt was looking to end his two-year winless streak on the three-quarter-mile track where he last visited Victory Lane.

But, much like Hamlin, luck wasn’t on Earnhardt’s side either. Instead, a surprise win was awarded to Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer after Earnhardt and Busch got together in the closing laps forcing Bowyer to suffer through an agonizing green-white-checkered flag finish.

“They were putting on a show for a while. They were racing hard. That's what racing at Richmond is all about in my opinion. It just didn't work out. I told the cops, I don't know why they were escorting me in here. I told them, they better get on and escort Kyle Busch out of here,” Bowyer joked.

After surrendering the lead, Hamlin continued to lose track position and drifted outside of the top 10 before his right front let go, bringing out the caution flag nine laps from the finish. In addition, he was held two laps for stopping on the racetrack in order to bring out the yellow. He ended the event 24th.

“You can’t whine about it. It just wasn’t meant to be,” he said of his dominant night turned disaster after the race.

After Hamlin’s tire trouble, Earnhardt stayed on track leading Busch and the top seven contenders under the pace laps. Kevin Harvick was the first of the cars who pit to line up for the restart in eighth.

Once the green flag waved for the restart on lap 395, it looked as though Earnhardt had the advantage over Busch as he spun his tires. But charging for the top spot in the inside lane heading towards turn 4, Busch drifted high into Earnhardt, sending the No. 88 of the sport’s most popular driver into the wall. Bowyer slid by and never relented.

“Everybody probably is racing around the racetrack scared to death of wrecking Dale Earnhardt, Jr. so why wouldn't I be any different? That was just a product of good, hard racing. I apologize that that happened and I hated that it did,” Busch said of his run-in with Earnhardt.

”If I wanted to do it deliberately, I would have waited for the last lap where I probably could have still won the race. We just didn't give each other enough room getting into turn three. I didn't feel like I slipped but we just kind of banged simultaneously and that's when I got loose and he was gone.”

Busch went on to finish second with veteran Mark Martin sliding into third.

Tony Stewart and Martin Truex, Jr. closed out the top five finishers. Earnhardt finished 15th.

The race belonged to the native Hamlin as he replaced Bill Elliott’s record of 348 laps led with his 381 circuits.

The first half of the event was somewhat calm as he dominated, but action quickly stirred up once the field hit the halfway mark.

The event was forced under red flag conditions on lap 230 for a multi-car wreck. Trouble began when Carl Edwards and J.J. Yeley made contact, sending Yeley into the outside wall. The field slowed and the stacking up began. Patrick Carpentier’s No. 10 Dodge was clipped, sending him hard into the inside retaining wall. Sitting sideways in the middle of the track, his machine was hit multiple times. Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Juan Pablo Montoya were among the dozen or so cars that were involved with damage spanning from night-ending to minor cosmetic crinkles.

The final full field round of pitstops fell on lap 355 after Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip wrecked. Waltrip was parked for the remainder of the event for running into Mears after the initial incident.

Hamlin led the lead lap cars down pitroad and maintained the position over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and Earnhardt, Jr. following the stops.

After another caution flag brought out after Jamie McMurray hit the wall, Hamlin led the field to another restart on lap 370. 10 laps later, he reported his tire troubles.

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