Rating the Race: Richmond – Dan Lowry 400
May 4, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
Image details: The Dan Lowry 400 served by picapp.com
Saturday night’s running of the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 was one of dominance, heartbreak, surprise, and all-around pure excitement, and the Sprint Cup Series manage to squeeze it all into just 400 laps at Richmond International Raceway. In fact, there hasn’t been any official report published on it, but I’d be willing to bet that at least a handful of fans at Richmond suffered from anxiety attacks, and the rest of them were probably focusing their efforts on tracking down the driver of the no. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing car.
Denny Hamlin started the race from the pole position, set a track record for laps lead, and looked as though he was well on his way to becoming only the fifth driver to win at Richmond from the pole since the track was reconfigured and only the third to ever sweep the weekend series at RIR, but it was Clint Bowyer standing in Victory Lane after the checkered flags waived.
Hamlin started the race off in grand fashion by quickly establishing himself as the class of the field right off the bat en route to leading 381 of the first 382 laps at his hometown track, with the other being led by AJ Allmendinger on lap 207 under caution.
Hamlin held onto the lead until there were only 18 laps left in the race when he felt a tire going down, and he not only gave up the lead, but dropped deep into the field. The grandstands went crazy as the no. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed him for the lead with Kyle Busch right next to him. Hamlin finally stopped his car on the track to draw the caution flag with 10 laps to go, but NASCAR threw the rulebook at him and parked him for two laps for intentionally bringing out a caution.
The race restarted, and Earnhardt and Kyle Busch battled for the lead. Earnhardt – who hadn’t won a race in two years – took the high side of the track, while Busch drove around the bottom. The two cars were running virtually neck and neck, and just when Earnhardt Nation thought their hopes were about to come true – the heartbreak kicked in. The two cars just sort of met in the middle of the track, and Busch sent Junior spinning with only 3 laps left to bring out the final caution of the race. The surprise was that as all of this was going on, Clint Bowyer snuck right past both cars to take the lead, and eventually the checkered flags. Kyle Busch would eventually finish 2nd.
Mark Martin started the race in second and ran inside the top-five the entire evening to finish in third. Tony Stewart had a solid day inside the top-ten, and was eventually rewarded with a fourth place effort. Martin Truex Jr. had a pretty quiet evening, but finished fifth. Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne completed the top-ten. Junior went onto finish 15th.
The first real bit of excitement occurred on lap 231 when JJ Yeley got tapped by Dave Blaney and Carl Edwards to set off a huge multi-car accident that involved thirteen drivers to bring out the 6th caution of the evening. Blaney and Edwards escaped the melee, but it forced Yeley down the track into Patrick Carpentier who took a spin around the track, running into several cars. The wreck included the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, David Gilliland, Juan Pablo Montoya, Johnny Sauter, Regan Smith, Michael McDowell, and Jeff Burton, though Burton was able to escape with minor damage and stay on the lead lap.
With 48 laps remaining, Casey Mears slid up the track and pinched Michael Waltrip, who had just pitted for four tires and gas. The pinch wound up wrecking both cars, and out of frustration, Waltrip just sort of clung to the back of Mears’ car, pushing him down the track. The incident warranted a call from NASCAR ordering Waltrip to park his car for the rest of the night.
Jeff Burton – after salvaging his racecar from the earlier accident – managed an 11th place finish, and continues to be the only driver in the series to successfully complete every lap this season, but surrendered the points lead to Kyle Busch. Burton now trails Busch by 18 points. Dave Blaney replaced JJ Yeley in the 35th points position.
For Bowyer, it is only the second Cup Series victory of his career, and the first since winning in New Hampshire from the pole position last September. He started Saturday’s race from 31st, making him only the eighth driver in series history to win a race at Richmond after starting from outside the top-20. The win moves Bowyer up three spots to fourth overall.
For a transcript of the race as it unfolded, please check out Richmond: “Live” on Type Delay over at Reverend Jim’s Rants ‘n’ Raves.
Grades:
the Race: 94%
the Drama: 98%
Coverage: 91%
Pre-Race: 86%
Overall Grade: 93.4%
Complete Results (from nascar.com):
| FIN |
ST |
CAR |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
PTS/BNS |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 1 |
31 |
07 |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevrolet |
BB&T |
190/5 |
410 |
Running |
| 2 |
7 |
18 |
Kyle Busch |
Toyota |
Pedigree |
170/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 3 |
2 |
8 |
Mark Martin |
Chevrolet |
U.S. Army |
165/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 4 |
15 |
20 |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
The Home Depot |
160/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 5 |
3 |
1 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Chevrolet |
Bass Pro Shops / Tracker |
155/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 6 |
10 |
12 |
Ryan Newman |
Dodge |
Alltel |
150/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 7 |
19 |
99 |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
Office Depot |
146/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 8 |
11 |
29 |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
Shell / Pennzoil |
142/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 9 |
28 |
24 |
Jeff Gordon |
Chevrolet |
DuPont |
138/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 10 |
9 |
9 |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
Budweiser |
134/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 11 |
33 |
31 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
AT&T Mobility |
130/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 12 |
5 |
41 |
Reed Sorenson |
Dodge |
Target |
127/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 13 |
39 |
43 |
Bobby Labonte |
Dodge |
Speed Racer / Cheerios |
124/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 14 |
23 |
16 |
Greg Biffle |
Ford |
DISH Network / DishDVRs |
121/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 15 |
22 |
88 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
National Guard / AMP Energy |
123/5 |
410 |
Running |
| 16 |
34 |
28 |
Travis Kvapil |
Ford |
Discount Tire |
115/0 |
410 |
Running |
| 17 |
13 |
6 |
David Ragan |
Ford |
AAA Insurance |
112/0 |
409 |
Running |
| 18 |
17 |
22 |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
Caterpillar |
109/0 |
408 |
Running |
| 19 |
30 |
66 |
Scott Riggs |
Chevrolet |
Haas Automation |
106/0 |
408 |
Running |
| 20 |
8 |
19 |
Elliott Sadler |
Dodge |
Stanley Tools |
103/0 |
408 |
Running |
| 21 |
26 |
01 |
Regan Smith * |
Chevrolet |
Steak-umm Burgers |
100/0 |
408 |
Running |
| 22 |
14 |
44 |
David Reutimann |
Toyota |
UPS |
97/0 |
407 |
Running |
| 23 |
35 |
77 |
Sam Hornish Jr. * |
Dodge |
Mobil 1 |
94/0 |
407 |
Running |
| 24 |
1 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
FedEx Express |
101/10 |
407 |
Running |
| 25 |
41 |
109 |
Sterling Marlin |
Chevrolet |
Miccosukee Resort & Gaming |
88/0 |
407 |
Running |
| 26 |
38 |
7 |
Robby Gordon |
Dodge |
Charter Comm. |
85/0 |
406 |
Running |
| 27 |
42 |
45 |
Kyle Petty |
Dodge |
Paralyzed Veterans of America |
82/0 |
406 |
Running |
| 28 |
32 |
83 |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
79/0 |
406 |
Running |
| 29 |
36 |
78 |
Joe Nemechek |
Chevrolet |
Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com |
76/0 |
406 |
Running |
| 30 |
12 |
48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet |
Lowe’s |
73/0 |
400 |
Running |
| 31 |
25 |
15 |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
Moen / Menards |
70/0 |
397 |
Running |
| 32 |
6 |
42 |
Juan Montoya |
Dodge |
Texaco / Havoline |
67/0 |
389 |
Running |
| 33 |
37 |
70 |
Johnny Sauter |
Chevrolet |
Haas Automation |
64/0 |
374 |
Running |
| 34 |
43 |
96 |
J.J. Yeley |
Toyota |
DLP HDTV |
61/0 |
365 |
Running |
| 35 |
20 |
26 |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
Crown Royal |
58/0 |
364 |
Accident |
| 36 |
16 |
5 |
Casey Mears |
Chevrolet |
Kellogg’s / CARQUEST |
55/0 |
354 |
Accident |
| 37 |
27 |
55 |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
NAPA AUTO PARTS |
52/0 |
352 |
Parked |
| 38 |
24 |
17 |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
DEWALT NANO Technology |
49/0 |
345 |
Running |
| 39 |
18 |
84 |
A.J. Allmendinger |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
51/5 |
259 |
Accident |
| 40 |
29 |
00 |
Michael McDowell * |
Toyota |
Aaron’s Dream Machine |
43/0 |
258 |
Accident |
| 41 |
40 |
38 |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
FreeCreditRep ort.com |
40/0 |
229 |
Accident |
| 42 |
21 |
2 |
Kurt Busch |
Dodge |
Miller Lite |
37/0 |
229 |
Accident |
| 43 |
4 |
10 |
Patrick Carpentier * |
Dodge |
LifeLock |
34/0 |
228 |
Accident |
Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):
| RANK |
+/- |
DRIVER |
POINTS |
BEHIND |
STARTS |
POLES |
WINS |
TOP 5 |
TOP 10 |
| 1 |
+1 |
Kyle Busch |
1495 |
Leader |
10 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
7 |
| 2 |
-1 |
Jeff Burton |
1477 |
-18 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
| 3 |
– |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
1391 |
-104 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
7 |
| 4 |
+3 |
Clint Bowyer |
1372 |
-123 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
| 5 |
+1 |
Kevin Harvick |
1350 |
-145 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
| 6 |
-2 |
Denny Hamlin |
1349 |
-146 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
| 7 |
-2 |
Jimmie Johnson |
1318 |
-177 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
| 8 |
+1 |
Tony Stewart |
1297 |
-198 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
| 9 |
-1 |
Greg Biffle |
1269 |
-226 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
| 10 |
– |
Carl Edwards |
1230 |
-265 |
10 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
| 11 |
– |
Ryan Newman |
1212 |
-283 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
| 12 |
+1 |
Kasey Kahne |
1162 |
-333 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| 13 |
+1 |
Jeff Gordon |
1156 |
-339 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
| 14 |
+1 |
David Ragan |
1106 |
-389 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| 15 |
+2 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
1104 |
-391 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| 16 |
-4 |
Juan Montoya |
1096 |
-399 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 17 |
-1 |
Brian Vickers |
1073 |
-422 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| 18 |
+4 |
Bobby Labonte |
1019 |
-476 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 19 |
+4 |
Travis Kvapil |
1008 |
-487 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 20 |
-2 |
David Gilliland |
980 |
-515 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 21 |
– |
Paul Menard |
972 |
-523 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 22 |
-3 |
Matt Kenseth |
958 |
-537 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| 23 |
+1 |
Casey Mears |
942 |
-553 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 24 |
-4 |
Kurt Busch |
940 |
-555 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 25 |
+1 |
Elliott Sadler |
935 |
-560 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 26 |
-1 |
Jamie McMurray |
897 |
-598 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 27 |
+1 |
Scott Riggs |
894 |
-601 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 28 |
+2 |
Mark Martin |
888 |
-607 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| 29 |
-2 |
Robby Gordon |
882 |
-613 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 30 |
-1 |
David Reutimann |
861 |
-634 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 31 |
+1 |
Reed Sorenson |
805 |
-690 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 32 |
-1 |
Michael Waltrip |
760 |
-735 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 33 |
+1 |
Regan Smith* |
759 |
-736 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 34 |
-1 |
Sam Hornish Jr.* |
757 |
-738 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 35 |
+1 |
Dave Blaney |
655 |
-840 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Well. I don’t even know what to say about the cluster that was the last few laps of that race. It was only about the gabazillionth time in the last two years I’ve gotten my hopes up just to have them crushed *sigh* But, I’m a Jr. fan, so I’m used to it. My endurance is astounding, haha.
Even if I weren’t a Jr. fan, I really feel Kyle Busch pulled that little stunt on purpose, and for a variety of reasons. Yeah, he gave the big speech about it being an accident and “hard racing” or whatever, but, no, sorry, not buying it. And yeah, Waltrip and Hammond and them backtracked and started smoothing it all over as an accident, but they’d already let their true feelings about it show, ha! Grr. Part of me was hoping Martin was hanging so close to Busch to keep him from winning. The other part of me was hoping Stewart would come charging out of no where and plow into Busch – just because I like angry Stewart, haha.
Jr. usually seems pretty humble and placid in the interviews, but I’m glad he at least said that, intentional or not, Busch was going to need extra protection “from all of us.” Ha!
Oh, and poor poor poor Denny Hamlin! Did he look dazed and confused or what?! I was p’d about the caution he caused, but still, I felt somewhat sorry for him. That had to SUCK.
And, Clint Bowyer cracked me up when he yelled over the radio “We knew it all day!” LOL! Yeah ya did.
OK, I’ve left a novel. Off to calm down again.
Denny Hamlin fans were very much as dissappointed as Dale Jr fans, it’s just that there are a lot more of the Jr fans.
The drama nearly pegged for that race.
There is nothing that Kyle Busch can say or do now to make people like him, not that he would anyway.
So, Alicia … why don’t you tell us how you REALLY felt about the race? lol Just kidding, I appreciate the feedback.
Jim, I’m not much of a Denny Hamlin fan, but I don’t see how anyone (aside from Junior fans, I guess) could’ve watched that without feeling at least a little sorry for the guy. Talk about some bad luck.
LOL @ Tim – yeah, I get carried away :P Funny how I started that with “I don’t even know what to say…” when I apparently had a lot to say, haha.
@ RevJim – I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve never cared for Kyle Busch much anyway, though I could never really offer up a reason. He just always seemed like a slimy character to me. Now I have a legit reason, though. (That, and how he acted Friday night.)
t.z been gone for the weekend at the lake but did caught all but the first 20 laps of the race. You have it scored well as for me a huge jr. fan still felt bad for denny hamlin but he had the rocky curse I pulled the poll in my other deal and would have won 200 bucks if he won the race you know that wasn’t going to happen for me with my luck this year. As for kyle he goes up friday night about gets wooped by steven wallace go to his car runs his mouth, then on saturday night says it just racin so when he’s pissed it’s ok but when someone else does it is unprofessional. Know it should have been jr. and not a crew person but it looked like the biggest guy on the team went down he was a big dude. But even know i’m a jr. fan he needs to not let these punks push him around they know he ain’t going to do anything about it. He should of went down himself. But he did say it was racin so maybe this weekend at the lady in black there be anther racin accident going the other way theres a lot of people pissed at kyle.
It’s all good, Alicia … nothing more than a “mental” lapse, I’m sure. =)
Yeah, Roc … I was pretty much rootin’ for ol’ boy to pop Busch a good one – that’s always fun! lol
How was the lake?
crappie fishing was good a couple little large mouth no keepers on bass.
We went out on the Potomac over the weekend, and it was a little rough, so it sounds like you did better than I did.