Clint Bowyer Wins Second Ever Race in Richmond

It was an incredible short track Saturday night in Richmond for NASCAR fans. From spectacular crashes to an unbelievable finish, tickets to the Crown Royal 400 were worth every penny.

It didn’t seem that exciting with Denny Hamlin leading 381 of the 400 laps, appearing to have it all wrapped up heading into the final stretch of the race. All eyes turned to the battle for second place between Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch.

Suddenly, with only 20 laps to go the distance between Hamlin and Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Busch disappeared. Hamlin roared over his radio that he had a flat tire. Earnhardt, Jr. and Busch passed Hamlin with 18 to go, going three wide in the process. With 16 to go, Clint Bowyer of Richard Childress Racing moved into third and Hamlin disappeared into the masses. By the time there were 12 left, Hamlin was out of the top 10.

Earnhardt, Jr. pulled ahead of Busch and widened his lead. It looked as though Earnhardt, Jr. would finally win his first race since Richmond in 2006. Incidentally, Hamlin took second behind Earnhardt, Jr in 2006. The worse thing that could have happened to Earnhardt, Jr. was the caution flag that came out with only 10 laps to go when Hamlin’s tire finally blew and he couldn’t make it to the pits.

It was a race where drivers were pushing themselves and their vehicles to the absolute limit. And the consequences of such adrenaline proved to be dangerous. It was first proven with a 10 car crash pulled out the sixth caution of the night. The second decided the fate of victory lane.

With a 71 race drought, the longest of his career, Earnhardt, Jr. – as well as his fans – was thirsty for a win. He could nearly taste it. All but the first six drivers pitted during the the tenth caution of the night. The single file restart showed Earnhardt, Jr. in first, Busch in second, Bowyer in third, and Mark Martin in fourth.

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The white flag dropped with 5 laps to go. The turns were tight and the crowd roared. Busch caught some ground on Earnhardt, Jr. with three to go. Busch pulled in front, then Earnhardt, Jr. charged back. Busch was on the inside and Earnhardt, Jr. tried to make the turn, but without enough race track in between the two, Busch bumped Earnhardt Jr. and visions of his drought-ending victory disappeared. As both cars drifted to the high side of the track, Bowyer moved ahead to take the lead.

Shots of the crowd during the final caution of the night showed fans outraged and pointing and yelling at Busch’s car. Under caution and two laps to go, Bowyer in first and Busch in second were poised to finish out the race in a 1-2 fashion. And that’s exactly what happened. Mark Martin placed third, Tony Stewart took fourth and Martin Truex, Jr. took fifth. The results of the race now put Busch in first place standings in the points chase, with Jeff Burton now in second, Earnhardt Jr. in third, and Bowyer moved up to fourth. Things are just heating up in NASCAR.

By Angela Moore
Pro Racing Fans Staff Writer

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