Hamlin Punches his own Ticket to the Chase

Denny Hamlin has been coming back to his home town track of Richmond International Raceway year after year to compete in the Sprint Cup Series, only to be continually frustrated by his inability to win. Saturday night all his energy and work finally paid off in front of his hometown fans as Hamlin’s FedEx Toyota was fast all night long. Hamlin was in the lead for 298 of the scheduled 400 laps in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on the challenging and dangerous Richmond International Raceway. After all the time, energy and work Hamlin has put into winning in his own house, this probably feels like his Daytona 500 moment to Hamlin. This victory is the second of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series for Hamlin and the sixth moment of ultimate glory for him in his career. Last spring, Hamlin was in the lead for 381 laps but finished sixth after one of his tires was damaged late in the race and early in 2008 he was in the lead for 148 laps at Richmond but only managed 14^th.

Kasey Kahne is ready for the Chase

Hamlin shares the spotlight in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 with Brian Vickers, who had the best night of all the racers, despite not winning the race. Brian managed to do something few other racers have ever done in the history of the Chase, drive himself into the Chase on his last chance of the Sprint Cup year. Brian was competitive all night long and when it counted he stepped up and took advantage of his chance to finish seventh on this .75-mile short track. Brian’s seventh place finish also knocked 25^th place finisher Matt Kenseth out of 12^th place in the race for the Chase, and beats 5^th place finisher Kyle Busch out for the 12^th and final spot in the Chase, by 8 points. Kyle Busch had a pretty good year and losing out by 8 points to the drivers he was battling all year long, is no disgrace.

The drivers that have punched their tickets to the Chase are sitting back and having a cold one by now. Enjoying the moment, just for one beer, before getting back to work on preparing for the 10 race Chase that’s about to begin. The seeding for the first race will be decided according to the number of victories each of the 12 drivers achieved during the 26 race 2009 Sprint Cup season. Mark Martin will be the top seed, just ahead of Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, who are ten points ahead of Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne. Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers are all tied at 5,010 points, while Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya and Greg Biffle are the bottom seeds.

“Image: Zuma Press”