#8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead with 43 laps to go and held on to win the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway, for his first win of 2006, 1st in 28 races [last year at Chicago in July] and 17th of his career. #11-Denny Hamlin finished 2nd for his career best finish, followed by #29-Kevin Harvick [who led the most laps], #16-Greg Biffle and #5-Kyle Busch. The rest of top-10 were #20-Tony Stewart, #99-Carl Edwards, #12-Ryan Newman, #14-Sterling Marlin and #07-Clint Bowyer. Points leader #48-Jimmie Johnson fell a lap down, got the lucky dog pass and finished 12th to maintain the points lead by 55 over Stewart. #17-Matt Kenseth, who came into the race 2nd in points, had a brake rotor break and ruptured the oil tank, Kenseth finished 38th. #24-Jeff Gordon had an engine problem, made up some laps and finished out of the race in 40th. There were 11 cautions for 61 laps and 6 leaders with 12 lead changes.
Race Results on my Richmond Race Results/Awards Page.
Points Standings on my Drivers/Owners Points after Richmond page.
Race Rundown: see my Richmond Race Info/Rundown Page for my race rundown page, laps led, top 10, race notes, lucky dogs and more.(5-6-2006)
