Some questionable pit strategy by the dominant car (Kevin Harvick) led to a four car battle in the closing laps and Dale Earnhardt Jr emerged victorious tonight at Richmond International Raceway. He captured the Crown Royal 400 by a little over half a second over Denny Hamlin as Harvick’s team tried to stretch his tires just a little too far and passed up the opportunity to pit with the rest of the field with about 90 laps to go. It burned him just about 30 laps later and he was never able to recover that lost track position. For Little E, this was his first win since he captured Chicagoland last July, his 3rd at RIR, and the 17th of his NEXTEL Cup career. He’s now tied for 38th on the all-time win list with Jeff Burton, Marvin Panch, and Curtis Turner. Win #23 for Dale Earnhardt Inc was worth $239,166 from the over $4.9M in posted awards.
Denny Hamlin (2nd) had his career-best finish tonight. His previous best was 4th at Texas last month….and he was doin’ it hurt tonight, too!
Greg Biffle (4th) had his best finish since he won at Homestead last November.
Sterling Marlin (9th) had his best finish since he was 7th at Talladega last October. His Top-10 finish gives us 31 drivers at that mark this season…..last year we had 43 of ’em.
STREAKIN….Tony Stewart has 5 Top-10’s in a row.
Kevin Harvick has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Elliott Sadler (+24), followed by Sterling Marlin (+23). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Brian Vickers (-33), followed by Kasey Kahne (-28 ), Matt Kenseth (-27), and Jeff Gordon (-24). Both Elliott and Brian are first-timers in the “Shaft” this season.
No change at the top of the Point Standings this week, but Jimmie Johnson’s lead over new #2 driver (Tony Stewart) is now 55 points. The “Stayin’ Alive” line is unchanged this week. Sterling Marlin (34th to 30th) advanced the most spots in the Top-35 this week, while Brian Vickers (14th to 19th) and Martin Truex Jr (20th to 25th) were the biggest movers on the down side.(Stock Car Fans)(5-6-206)
