Post by dalejrfan on May 7, 2006 0:50:36 GMT -5
RICHMOND, Va. - Kevin Harvick made just one mistake in two days of racing at Richmond International Raceway, but that was enough to send Dale Earnhardt Jr. to his first Nextel Cup victory of the 2006 in the Crown Royal 400.
"It feels great," Earnhardt Jr. said after his first victory of the year, which was his first win since his lone victory of 2005 at Chicagoland Speedway in July.
"I'm glad to be back in victory lane. This is really going
to help our team. We're having a great season and we're really enjoying ourselves."
Harvick, who won the Busch Series race that ended early Saturday morning at this 0.75-mile track, was enjoying himself, too, for much of Saturday night's race. He took the lead on Lap 50 and was in absolute control until a pit call turned things around.
When Martin Truex Jr. lost an engine on Lap 281 to bring out a yellow, Harvick stayed on the track while his closest challengers came in for fresh tires. It took a while after the restart for that decision to have its ultimate impact, but by Lap 322 Earnhardt Jr. was rapping on the leader's rear bumper.
As they battled, rookie Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton moved in to challenge, too. It was Hamlin, on Lap 330, who eventually made a strong move to the low side to surge into the lead.
But when Robby Gordon cut a tire and hit the wall to bring out a yellow on Lap 346, Busch and Earnhardt Jr. beat Hamlin off pit road.
It took Earnhardt Jr. just four laps to get around Busch, bringing more than 100,000 in the stands to their feet, to take the lead.
Harvick, now on fresh tires, too, clawed his way back up to second, but he couldn't catch the No. 8 Chevrolet and fell to third behind Hamlin just before a crash involving Scott Riggs and Brian Vickers in Turn 3 brought out a yellow on Lap 386.
That lined the leaders up for a restart with 10 laps remaining, with Earnhardt getting a good jump on that green flag. But Burton, who'd erred by coming in when pit road was closed under a previous yellow and lost major ground, spun on the backstretch to bring out another yellow.
The green flew with seven laps to go, and this time Hamlin got a good restart. He pulled nearly alongside the No. 8 in Turn 2 on Lap 395, but Earnhardt Jr. powered away and pulled away.
Hamlin, who's from only a few miles away in Chesterfield, Va., grabbed second with Harvick holding on for third. Greg Biffle, who'd been trapped a lap down when he pitted under green just before a caution early in the race, fought all the way back to finish fourth with Kyle Busch fifth.
"We had a great car," Earnhardt Jr. said. "The people back at the shop made this weekend easy because we were good when we got here. ...When I come to the track I know I have the best I can ask for. ...I couldn't ask for any position on this team or in the shop to be better."
Harvick swept to victories in the Busch and Cup series races at Phoenix two weeks ago, and looked like he was going to do the same thing here. He led for 272 laps Saturday night, but the decision not to pit when his challengers did kept that from happening.
"We would have been short on fuel if we'd stopped there," Harvick said. "We got tight there at the end and just lost a little speed."
Harvick picked up two spots in the Nextel Cup standings, moving from seventh to fifth. Jimmie Johnson, who rallied from a lap down to finish 12th, held the lead by 55 points over Tony Stewart, who finished sixth.
Hamlin, who raced despite having 19 stitches in his left hand to mend a cut he suffered while goofing around with his team after a test Wednesday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, said he would have done anything he could to pass Earnhardt Jr. to try to win at the end.
"I went to victory lane and Dale Jr. asked me why I didn't lean on him," Hamlin said. "I told him I would have if I had a good enough car to get to him."
Still, it was a big night for the 25-year-old rookie running in the Nextel Cup series at what is virtually his hometown track.
"I'd rather finish second here than in the Daytona 500," Hamlin said. "I heard the crowd cheering there at the end, and maybe they were cheering for Junior, but in my mind those cheers were for me.
"When I took the lead from the 29 car I could literally feel my heartbeat in my foot on the accelerator. This is by far the biggest race of my career. It's special to have so many family and friends here. I can't tell you how I feel. I will be riding this wave for weeks and months to come."
"It feels great," Earnhardt Jr. said after his first victory of the year, which was his first win since his lone victory of 2005 at Chicagoland Speedway in July.
"I'm glad to be back in victory lane. This is really going
to help our team. We're having a great season and we're really enjoying ourselves."
Harvick, who won the Busch Series race that ended early Saturday morning at this 0.75-mile track, was enjoying himself, too, for much of Saturday night's race. He took the lead on Lap 50 and was in absolute control until a pit call turned things around.
When Martin Truex Jr. lost an engine on Lap 281 to bring out a yellow, Harvick stayed on the track while his closest challengers came in for fresh tires. It took a while after the restart for that decision to have its ultimate impact, but by Lap 322 Earnhardt Jr. was rapping on the leader's rear bumper.
As they battled, rookie Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton moved in to challenge, too. It was Hamlin, on Lap 330, who eventually made a strong move to the low side to surge into the lead.
But when Robby Gordon cut a tire and hit the wall to bring out a yellow on Lap 346, Busch and Earnhardt Jr. beat Hamlin off pit road.
It took Earnhardt Jr. just four laps to get around Busch, bringing more than 100,000 in the stands to their feet, to take the lead.
Harvick, now on fresh tires, too, clawed his way back up to second, but he couldn't catch the No. 8 Chevrolet and fell to third behind Hamlin just before a crash involving Scott Riggs and Brian Vickers in Turn 3 brought out a yellow on Lap 386.
That lined the leaders up for a restart with 10 laps remaining, with Earnhardt getting a good jump on that green flag. But Burton, who'd erred by coming in when pit road was closed under a previous yellow and lost major ground, spun on the backstretch to bring out another yellow.
The green flew with seven laps to go, and this time Hamlin got a good restart. He pulled nearly alongside the No. 8 in Turn 2 on Lap 395, but Earnhardt Jr. powered away and pulled away.
Hamlin, who's from only a few miles away in Chesterfield, Va., grabbed second with Harvick holding on for third. Greg Biffle, who'd been trapped a lap down when he pitted under green just before a caution early in the race, fought all the way back to finish fourth with Kyle Busch fifth.
"We had a great car," Earnhardt Jr. said. "The people back at the shop made this weekend easy because we were good when we got here. ...When I come to the track I know I have the best I can ask for. ...I couldn't ask for any position on this team or in the shop to be better."
Harvick swept to victories in the Busch and Cup series races at Phoenix two weeks ago, and looked like he was going to do the same thing here. He led for 272 laps Saturday night, but the decision not to pit when his challengers did kept that from happening.
"We would have been short on fuel if we'd stopped there," Harvick said. "We got tight there at the end and just lost a little speed."
Harvick picked up two spots in the Nextel Cup standings, moving from seventh to fifth. Jimmie Johnson, who rallied from a lap down to finish 12th, held the lead by 55 points over Tony Stewart, who finished sixth.
Hamlin, who raced despite having 19 stitches in his left hand to mend a cut he suffered while goofing around with his team after a test Wednesday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, said he would have done anything he could to pass Earnhardt Jr. to try to win at the end.
"I went to victory lane and Dale Jr. asked me why I didn't lean on him," Hamlin said. "I told him I would have if I had a good enough car to get to him."
Still, it was a big night for the 25-year-old rookie running in the Nextel Cup series at what is virtually his hometown track.
"I'd rather finish second here than in the Daytona 500," Hamlin said. "I heard the crowd cheering there at the end, and maybe they were cheering for Junior, but in my mind those cheers were for me.
"When I took the lead from the 29 car I could literally feel my heartbeat in my foot on the accelerator. This is by far the biggest race of my career. It's special to have so many family and friends here. I can't tell you how I feel. I will be riding this wave for weeks and months to come."
