Backstretch Motorsports

RICHMOND, Va. – Bizarre might be a good description of the Dan Lowry 400 Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

This one had a little bit of everything.

Denny Hamlin led a race-record number of laps, 381 to be exact.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch provided a few laps of great racing for the lead, a battle that ended with Earnhardt spinning out on Lap 398.

And that led to Clint Bowyer getting by both Earnhardt and Busch, en route to his second career win in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.

Hamlin owned the race until he had a tire go flat with the end in sight, on Lap 383. Hamlin stopped his car on the track and NASCAR invoked a two-lap penalty for intentionally causing a caution.

After the restart, Earnhardt and Busch battled several laps for the lead with Earnhardt taking over, much to the delight of the partisan crowd. Their cheers turned to boos a few laps later when the two drivers scraped together and Earnhardt spun, hitting the outside wall.

That set the stage for a green, white, checker finish – with Bowyer holding off Busch for the two laps as the sellout crowd of more than 110,000 fans roared their approval. Busch’s runner-up result was good enough for him to overtake Jeff Burton for the series points lead.

While Bowyer was reaping the rewards of his win, Michael Waltrip was trying to explain to NASCAR officials why he continued to push Casey Mears’ car after an accident between the two. Mears pinched Waltrip into the outside wall, causing both cars to make contact. Waltrip continued the skirmish after the cars slowed down.

It was another good performance for veteran Mark Martin, who finished third. Rounding out the top 10 were Tony Stewart, Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne. Earnhardt wound up 15th. Hamlin was 24th.

Prior to the tire problem, Hamlin had taken up where he had left off in winning Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at RIR, leading 229 of the first 230 laps.

The Chesterfield, Va. native was thrilled following his Friday win, the first of his career at his “home track,” and carried his exuberance into the NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

On Lap 230, contact between Carl Edwards’ Ford and J.J. Yeley’s Toyota led to a 14-car incident that included the Chevrolet of points leader Burton. Burton, however, escaped with minimal damage and went on to an 11th-place finish – but he dropped to second in the point standings.

NASCAR Race Number 10
Unofficial Race Results for the Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry “400″
- Saturday, May 3, 2008
Richmond International Raceway - Richmond, VA - .75 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 410 Laps - 307.5 Miles - Purse: $5,137,427
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Total Award Status Times Laps
1 31 07 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 410 190 5 $226,550 Running 1 13
2 7 18 Kyle Busch Pedigree Toyota 410 170 $171,100 Running
3 2 8 Mark Martin U.S. Army Chevrolet 410 165 $174,108 Running
4 15 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 410 160 $157,911 Running
5 3 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 410 155 $133,708 Running
6 10 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 410 150 $137,975 Running
7 19 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 410 146 $131,375 Running
8 11 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 410 142 $125,411 Running
9 28 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 410 138 $126,186 Running
10 9 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 410 134 $113,741 Running
11 33 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 410 130 $119,658 Running
12 5 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 410 127 $104,464 Running
13 39 43 Bobby Labonte Speed Racer/Cheerios Dodge 410 124 $113,011 Running
14 23 16 Greg Biffle Dish Network Ford 410 121 $84,575 Running
15 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy 410 123 5 $83,000 Running 1 15
16 34 28 Travis Kvapil Discount Tire Ford 410 115 $101,089 Running
17 13 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 409 112 $80,850 Running
18 17 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 408 109 $90,383 Running
19 30 66 Scott Riggs Haas Automation Chevrolet 408 106 $88,158 Running
20 8 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 408 103 $100,470 Running
21 26 01 Regan Smith # Steak-umm Burgers Chevrolet 408 100 $81,000 Running
22 14 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 407 97 $71,275 Running
23 35 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 407 94 $113,650 Running
24 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 407 101 10 $123,166 Running 2 381
25 41 09 Sterling Marlin Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 407 0 $67,975 Running
26 38 7 Robby Gordon Charter Communications Dodge 406 85 $92,608 Running
27 42 45 Kyle Petty PVA Dodge 406 82 $81,858 Running
28 32 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 406 79 $70,075 Running
29 36 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 406 76 $66,950 Running
30 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 400 73 $121,411 Running
31 25 15 Paul Menard Menards/Moen Chevrolet 397 70 $77,150 Running
32 6 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 389 67 $94,408 Running
33 37 70 Johnny Sauter Haas Automation Chevrolet 374 64 $67,325 Running
34 43 96 J.J. Yeley DLP HDTV Toyota 365 61 $74,250 Running
35 20 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 364 58 $74,125 Accident
36 16 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 354 55 $83,975 Accident
37 27 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Toyota 352 52 $75,397 Parked
38 24 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt NANO Ford 345 49 $113,366 Running
39 18 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 259 51 5 $65,600 Accident 1 1
40 29 00 Michael McDowell # Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 258 43 $65,475 Accident
41 40 38 David Gilliland freecreditreport.com Ford 229 40 $65,330 Accident
42 21 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 229 37 $65,205 Accident
43 4 10 Patrick Carpentier # LifeLock Dodge 228 34 $65,471 Accident
Race Comments: Before an announced sell-out crowd of 112,000+ - Clint Bowyer won the Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry 400 - his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following drivers dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: #24 Jeff Gordon (unapproved impound adjustment).
Failed to Qualify: (4) 40 Ken Schrader, 33 Scott Wimmer, 34 John Andretti, 21 Jon Wood.
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 12 Mins, 37 Secs. Average Speed: 95.786 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.439 Seconds
Caution Flags: 11 for 62 laps: Laps: 67-72 (Debris); 129-133 (Debris); 140-144 (#42 accident turn 2); 206-210 (#84 spun backstretch); 221-226 (#15,83 accident backstretch); 231-237 (#00,01,2,10,17,31,38,42,48,96,99 accident turn 3 [Red 21:47 Lap 231]); 262-266 (#00,84 accident turn 3); 356-360 (#5,55 accident turn 1); 367-370 (#26 accident turn 4); 392-395 (#11 stopped on track); 399-408 ().
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers: D. Hamlin 1-206; A. Allmendinger 207; D. Hamlin 208-382; D. Earnhardt Jr. 383-397; C. Bowyer 398-410.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) Ky. Busch 1,495;(2) J. Burton 1,477;(3) D. Earnhardt Jr. 1,391;(4) C. Bowyer 1,372;(5) K. Harvick 1,350;(6) D. Hamlin 1,349;(7) J. Johnson 1,318;(8) T. Stewart 1,297;(9) G. Biffle 1,269;(10) C. Edwards 1,230;(11) R. Newman 1,212;(12) K. Kahne 1,162.
Coors Light Pole Award : Denny Hamlin, #11 (126.198 mph) DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Mark Martin, #8
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Clint Bowyer, #07 EA Sports Move of the Race : Clint Bowyer, #07
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Denny Hamlin, #11 (121.924 mph, Lap 212) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Mark Martin, #8
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Ryan Newman, #12 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Clint Bowyer, #07 (.225 second)
Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Regan Smith, #01 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Clint Bowyer, #07
USG Improving the Finish : Clint Bowyer, #07 (30 Places) WIX Lap Leader : Denny Hamlin, #11 (381 Laps)
Next Race: May. 10, 2008 - Darlington Raceway