Sauter wins wild Funai 250 at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Johnny Sauter bumped Matt Kenseth into the wall and out of the way in the final turn Friday night, ending a wild seven-lap shootout and gaining his second career Busch Series victory.

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Kenseth had passed Sauter just over two laps from the end coming out of a restart and seemed on his way to victory until the beating and banging finished on the final lap at Richmond International Raceway

Sauter's Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick finished second, also in a Chevrolet, followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr. in a Ford, Brian Vickers in a Chevrolet and new points leader David Green in a Pontiac.

Kenseth wound up sixth.

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"I'm so dang proud of Johnny I can't hardly stand it," Harvick said.

The race further jumbled the points race, which remains the tightest in series history. The top five drivers are separated by 111 points.

But the finish involved none of the leaders.

Sauter, who started 30th, had passed Harvick and then Kenseth, the Winston Cup points leader, in the final 30 laps and seemed to have the strongest car when the Funai 250 went back to green with seven laps left.

	Sauter led 32 of the 250 laps. Credit: Autostock

But Kenseth pulled even on the outside and the two battled side-by-side, finally making contact coming out of the fourth turn. As both cars wiggled and the drivers tried to hang on, Harvick pulled even, too, and the three raced three-wide into the first turn -- a recipe for trouble.

More contact resulted, and as an accident far back in the field brought out another caution, Sauter emerged again as the leader.

The crash, which knocked points contender Jason Keller into the wall and out of the race, caused NASCAR to stop the event with a red flag.

After about five minutes, the cars rolled again, the race went back to green with three laps to go and the final-laps fireworks got going.

	Scott Riggs finished 29th and fell to third in the standings.

Green now leads Vickers by 48 points. Riggs is 68 back, followed by Ron Hornaday, who is 74 back. Keller is now 111 points behind.

Riggs was running in the top 10 when he was broadsided by Mike Bliss on the 207th of 250 laps.

Riggs refired his car and got back in the race, but was caught speeding on pit road during a series of stops for repairs. He was called back into his pits for a one-lap penalty and gradually faded to finish 29th.