Friday, May 2 Richmond Int'l Raceway Richmond, Virginia

Denny Hamlin celebrates his win.

Fresh Tires Propel Hamlin to Nationwide Win
By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

RICHMOND, Va. (May 2, 2008) -- With fresh tires on his No. 20 Toyota, Virginia native Denny Hamlin blew past Kevin Harvick on Lap 242 and weathered a green-white-checkered-flag restart to win Friday night's Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

Hamlin had opened a lead of more than two seconds over Harvick, before Bryan Clauson's spin on Lap 247 brought out the eighth and final caution, necessitating the two-lap dash that took the race three laps beyond its posted distance of 250 laps.

Hamlin finished .790 seconds ahead of Harvick, who fell just short in trying to win his first race in his own car. Harvick, Carl Edwards and Mike Bliss had stayed on the track under caution on Lap 237, while Hamlin came in for new tires.

"When those guys stayed out, I knew it was our race to win," Hamlin said. "We had a third-place car there at the end, and the circumstances just worked out for us."

The victory was Hamlin's first in the Nationwide Series this year and sixth overall. It also was the third straight win for the No. 20 with three different drivers (Kyle Busch at Mexico, Tony Stewart at Talladega). Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won seven of the 11 Nationwide events contested this year.

Kyle Busch rallied from a lap down to finish third, after trading shots with Steven Wallace on the final lap to hold the position. David Ragan surged past Wallace to come home fourth, and Wallace held on to fifth position. David Stremme, Edwards, Bliss, Clint Bowyer and Scott Wimmer completed the top 10.

Harvick's crew chief, Wally Rogers, called his driver into the pits on Lap 237, but Harvick saw in his mirror that Edwards and Bliss were staying up on the track and made an impromptu call to stay out.

"I've been caught on both sides of that, but it only cost us one spot," Harvick said. "I was pitting, until I saw the 60 (Edwards) and the 1 (Bliss) behind him stay up. I figured more cars would stay out."

Harvick beat Edwards off pit road on Lap 144 under caution for David Reutimann's spin in Turn 2, a mishap instigated by a tap from Sam Hornish's Dodge. Harvick kept his No. 33 Chevrolet in front through two more caution periods until Derrike Cope's spin on the frontstretch brought out the sixth yellow flag of the race.

Harvick retained the lead until Hamlin passed him on Lap 242.

After their last-lap fracas, Busch and Wallace traded barbs on pit road.

"He's a boy trying to play it in a man's sport," Busch said.

"If he's going to say stuff like that, he can come and say it to my face," retorted Wallace, who grabbed Busch's facemask when Busch confronted him while Wallace was seated in his No. 66 Chevy after the race.

"If you grab the bull, you're going to get the horns," Busch added in his post-race press conference.

Complete Race Results click here

Post-Race Driver Point Standings click here


Kasey Kahne won the pole position for the Lipton Tea 250.

Starting Lineup click here

Schedule/Broadcast Times - AT*

Qualifying: Friday, May 2 (SPEED at 5 p.m.)

Pre-Race: Friday, May 2 (ESPN2 & TSN-alt at 8 p.m.)

Race: Friday, May 2 (SPEED & TSN-alt at 8:30 p.m.)

*AT is one hour ahead of ET, i.e. if it's 2 p.m./AT - it's 1 p.m./ET...

Fast Facts
The Race: The Lipton TEA 250
The Place: Richmond Int’l. Raceway
The Distance: 187.5 miles/250 laps
TV: ESPN2 & TSN-alt, 8 p.m./AT
Track Size: 0.750 mile
2007 Winner: Clint Bowyer
2007 Pole: Denny Hamlin
Schedule (local track time): Friday-Practice 8:45-10:55 a.m.; Qualifying, 4:05 p.m. (Impound).

Year-To-Date Race Results & Point Standings: click here

Track Map



Pre-Race Pit Stops

• Bowyer Is Standings Leader, Defending Winner Coming To Richmond... It seems like Clint Bowyer (No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet) is getting all breaks this season. Despite a 25th-place finish due to an early accident at Talladega Superspeedway — where he went in leading defending series champion Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Ford) by nine points — Bowyer managed to increase that lead to 27 points thanks to Edwards’ first DNF of the season. Now, Bowyer is looking ahead to the Lipton TEA 250 at Richmond International Raceway where he is the defending race winner. It shouldn't come as a surprise if Bowyer builds on that lead at Richmond where he’s posted three of his six finishes in the top 10 including last season’s win. He’s also been strong during qualifying with five of his six starts in the top 10 at the .75-mile track. Those numbers have been similar to his 2008 season overall after 11 races. Thus far, Bowyer has posted one win, four top fives and a series-high seven top 10 finishes.
• Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chiefs Making All The Right Calls...Joe Gibbs Racing has been almost unstoppable this season and a big part of the organization’s success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series are crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Ratcliff. Rogers has been the key crew chief for the No. 20 Toyota leading the team to four wins, five top fives, and six top 10s over the first 10 races. The two have put drivers Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch in victory lane a total of six times. (Busch will drive at Richmond on Friday for Braun Racing in the No. 32 Haas Avocadoes from Mexico Toyota.) Stewart has grabbed three wins with Rogers atop the pit box at Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway and at Talladega. Busch posted a win with Rogers south of the border in Mexico, his first victory on a road-course in a national series competition. Denny Hamlin will be behind the wheel this weekend driving the No. 20 Z-Line Designs Toyota. He has three top 10s at Richmond and started on the pole in this event last season. Ratcliff has been atop the No. 18 pit box for five races with Busch. The two have posted wins at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway, along with three top-five finishes. JGR leads the owner standings with the No. 20 car 55 points ahead of Richard Childress’ No. 2.
• Series-Only Regulars Making Moves In The Standings...A pack of cars came steaming off of Turn 4 on the last lap of the Aaron’s 312 last Saturday, and many of the series-only regulars were vying for the top spot — eight of the top-12 finishers were NASCAR Nationwide series regulars. Four drivers, in particular, made big moves not only on the track, but also in the series standings. David Stremme (No. 64 Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet) was a big force in the pack last weekend at Talladega netting a second- place finish. It was his second top-five and fifth top-10 of the season. Stremme moved up three positions in the rankings from 16th to 13th, and currently is 28 points behind Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 25 Peanuts Shop of Wilmington Ford), who is in 10th place. Stremme’s best finish at Richmond was eighth in 2004. Hamilton kept his car out of trouble on Saturday to post his first top-five and second top-10 of the season. His third-place finish propelled Hamilton five spots in the standings and into the top 10, a significant move after not running in Mexico. Boris Said was behind the wheel of the No. 25 there. Hamilton does have two top-five finishes at Richmond in 2003-04, but was 22nd last fall in his last race there. Mike Bliss (No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet) mounted a last-lap effort that resulted in his first to- five and fifth top-10 of the season. He also moved up in the series point standings two spots to fifth. Bliss has a best finish of fifth at Richmond, recorded last fall. NASCAR’s Loop Data Pre-Race Statistics have Bliss in the top 20 in Driver Rating (86.5) and Average Running Position (16.7). Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) posted his third top-10 start and second top-five finish at the famed facility this past weekend. Leffler maintained his top-10 ranking (eighth), but his finish at Talladega was his first top-five of the season. His best finish at Richmond was fourth in 2004.
• The Director’s Take: Friday Night Lights Bring Drivers Back To Racing Roots...“Richmond is one of the more popular tracks on the circuit for the drivers because it brings them back to their racing roots; racing under the lights on a short track,” said Joe Balash, NASCAR Nationwide Series director. “This series was built on short-track racing. “Over the last month, we’ve run on four different tracks … road course races are about braking and shifting, getting into a rhythm, taking advantage of mistakes or out-braking in the corner. Superspeedways are about finding out what the car can do early in the race and who your friends are as far as the draft; positioning the car to be in the right spot to the finish. The car is either good or not when it comes off the trailer. There’s not a lot you can do to make the car better. “Short tracks are where everything comes into play … the driver, the crew, the car. Richmond allows for the drivers to really showcase their talents. Even though they have to have a good car every week, this is a track where they use their talent to hustle the car around the race track to make up for small misses in the set up.”
• Bill France Performance Cup Standings...Toyota extended its lead on Chevrolet in the Bill France Performance Cup standings following Tony Stewart’s win last week at Talladega. Chevrolet is the manufacturer to beat at Richmond, however, with 20 wins — and the last five in a row.
• Jeff Green (No. 31 Key Motorsports/JMI Signs Chevrolet) hopes to make his season debut at Richmond driving for Key Motorsports. Green won this race at RIR in 2000. The team has been plying its trade in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series over the past five years.
• Two-time series champion Kevin Harvick (No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet) will make his 200th career NASCAR Nationwide Series start Friday. Harvick has compiled 32 wins, 16 poles, 102 top-five and 146 top-10 finishes in his previous 199 starts. His 32 wins are second on the all-time list, 16 behind leader Mark Martin. Harvick, with four wins at RIR, has the opportunity to tie Martin (5) for the most wins at the track.
• Morgan Shepherd (No. 89 Victory In Jesus Dodge) posted a 13th-place finish at Talladega last weekend, his highest finish since an 11th-place result also at Talladega in 2003.
• Ryan Hackett (No. 76 J&R Supply Ford) aims for his series debut this weekend at Richmond. Hackett has experience on dirt and NASCAR late-model competition before moving up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
• Brad Keselowski (No. 88 NAVY Chevrolet) was the fastest in the final test session at Richmond last March and will run a Blue Angels paint scheme just like the Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets upon his return Friday. Keselowski flew with the Blue Angels in a two-seater back in February. Also this week Keselowski and his team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make an aircraft carrier trip Thursday off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.