Hamlin wins, Vickers qualified for the chase

For the last event of the season before the chase, Denny Hamlin was the fastest on the Richmond oval to achieve a home victory that he had been waiting for for a long time. The pilot Toyota led for 298 of the 400 laps of the race and managed to get the better of his opponents, in particular Jeff Gordon with whom he fought most of the night.

« It?s like winning the Daytona 500 for me », enthuses the Toyota driver who signed his second victory of the season. “ I'm at home here. But we lacked the victory to prove it. Eventually, [Saturday night], we showed that we were contenders for the title. »

For the last event before the chase, eyes were also on 12th place, synonymous with qualification for the final straight. 13th before entering the Richmond round, Brian Vickers took 7th place to move up to the 12th and final qualifying position for the Chase at the expense of Matt Kenseth who only ranked 25th.

Before entering the last 10 races of the season counting for the chase, the 12 qualified drivers are Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle. The next round will take place next week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.