Hamlin wins at home but Busch falls short of Chase

By JENNA FRYER

The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. — Denny Hamlin suffered his fair share of heartbreak at Richmond International Raceway, the home track where he so desperately wanted a win.

He finally got it Saturday night, but the victory celebration was muted. Kyle Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, fell eight points short of making the Chase for the championship in the tightest deciding race since the format was launched in 2004.

"We did all we can do. We gave a valiant effort and it was a good night," Busch said. "We will live to see anotherday. We'll go on for the rest of the year."

Hamlin, with the momentum of his Richmond win, believes he's the favorite to win the Sprint Cup title. He twice before led the most laps at Richmond, where he sat in the stands as a child rooting on boyhood idol Bill Elliott, only to have late pitfalls sabotage his shot at victory.

Now he's got his Richmond win, his second of the season, and a ton of confidence headed into the Chase.

"They better watch us," he vowed. "I am telling you, this team is dangerous."

Mark Martin, who at 50 is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, leads the Chase field as the top seed and is followed by Tony Stewart and three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

Hamlin starts the Chase in fourth and is followed by Kasey Kahne, three-time series champion Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers, who finished a career-best seventh Saturday night to grab the final qualifying spot.

Carl Edwards will start the Chase in ninth and is followed by Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle.

Busch and Matt Kenseth, who had made the Chase in each of its first five seasons, were the two drivers shut out of the field.

It made for a compelling night of racing, where 11 drivers vied for the final eight available spots in NASCAR's title-deciding Chase.

On the bubble was Kenseth, the Daytona 500 winner, who started the race in the 12th and final qualifying spot. Vickers, charging hard the past 11 races, and Busch were right on his bumper.

But Kenseth struggled from the drop of the green flag and quickly fell out of contention. Busch and Vickers swapped the final spot multiple times over the 400 laps, setting up a final 14-lap sprint to the finish.

Busch used a flawless final pit stop to beat Vickers off of pit road, but he restarted the race sixth and could only gain one spot on the track. He finished fifth and said he'll focus now on helping Hamlin win a championship.

"I'll do my best to help Denny out and bring Joe Gibbs Racing a championship," Busch said. "I think Denny has got a lot going forward, especially winning here. He's going to have a big momentum boost next week."

Vickers, meanwhile, grabbed his best finish at Richmond when his season was on the line. He had feuded with Busch, his one-time teammate, over the past month but the two showed no ill-will toward each other after the frantic finish. Busch extended a handshake and said, "Good job," as Vickers entered the post-race news conference.

Vickers, who got upstart Red Bull Racing into its first Chase, promised a long night of celebrating.

"I genuinely mean that, I'm going to party hard tonight," he said.

Kenseth, winner of the first two races this season, was shut out of the Chase for the first time since it started in 2004.

"Third race of the year, Las Vegas, we finished last and it's been downhill from there," Kenseth said. "The way we're running right now, even if we made it, we wouldn't have a shot at the championship."

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September 13, 2009 07:36 AM EDT

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