Hamlin wins at Richmond, takes top seed in Chase

RICHMOND, Va. -- He's back -- and just in time.

Denny Hamlin claimed the top seed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with a convincing victory in Saturday night's Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Hamlin warded off a strong challenge from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to win his series-leading sixth race of the season, worth 60 bonus points as the Chase begins on Sept. 19 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Busch rolled home second, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose.

Clint Bowyer secured the final place in the Chase with a sixth-place run. All Bowyer needed to clinch was finish 28th, even if Ryan Newman, his closest pursuer, had won the race and led the most laps. As it turned out, Newman finished 11th and didn't lead a lap.

Juan Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick and pole-sitter Carl Edwards completed the top 10.

It was a confident Hamlin who discussed his championship prospects in Victory Lane.

"It's been an up-and-down year, but there's been a lot of ups, and obviously we're going to enter this Chase No. 1," said Hamlin, who leads the points for the first time in his career. "It means a lot to this whole race team. A lot of people bashed this race team about 'can't finish this, and can't finish that.' But we've got the most wins, and hopefully that's going to carry us for the 10 weeks in the Chase.

"At this point, I think we can win at all of 'em."

Hamlin, who led 251 of the 400 laps at the three-quarters-mile short track, conserved his tires after a green-flag pit stop on Lap 327 and pulled away from Busch slightly in the closing laps. He crossed the finish line .537 seconds ahead of his teammate.

"He made a heck of a charge," Hamlin said. "Luckily for me, it was a teammate, because anyone else probably would have moved us. I knew we had to run a certain distance no matter what. If he passed me with 30 to go, I still had 30 laps to go on those tires. I needed to make do with what I had, and I was just patient with the tires."

Greg Biffle's clinching of a Chase spot was a mere formality, and it happened on Lap 48, when Jason Leffler became the first driver to drop out of the race. That guaranteed Biffle at least a 42nd-place finish, all he needed to qualify for NASCAR's postseason. Biffle finished 32nd, five laps back. The other 10 drivers in the top 12 already had qualified for the Chase.

Despite being the last driver to secure a Chase berth, Bowyer was optimistic about his chances in the final 10 races. He joined Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick, the points leader before the field was re-seeded for the Chase, and Jeff Burton in NASCAR's version of the playoffs.

"I'm very excited for our race team to make the Chase," Bowyer said. "I'm very excited for RCR. After the year we had last year, to get all three cars back in the Chase -- after none of us being in the Chase last year -- feels really good.

"I feel like this is our best shot since I've been here to win a championship."

Bowyer showed early he merely wasn't going to be satisfied with just making the Chase. He had a stout car and led 33 laps, and his finish left him disappointed.

"As happy as I am to make the Chase, I was frustrated with the finish," Bowyer said. "We were a second-place car and made an attempt to pass Denny a couple of times and slipped clear to sixth."

In the end, though, nobody had anything for Hamlin, who won at Richmond for the second consecutive year.

Last year's victory pushed Hamlin thick into the championship hunt, and he hung with Johnson for the first few weeks until a mix of mechanical problems and mental lapses took him out of contention. This year, he's hoping to ride the momentum to his first career championship.

Johnson knows Hamlin is lurking.

"Maybe I took for granted how well Denny ran last year, that he would just be there [in contention]," Johnson said. "That's been the reality to me, that he's going to be one of the guys to race for it."

But Johnson is mostly focused on his own Hendrick Motorsports team and what he's got to do to continue his reign.

"My guys are ready, I'm ready, we have got our mojo back and we are looking forward to it," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:
• With victory, Hamlin rides wave of momentum into Chase
• Menzer: Hamlin, Busch mature into serious title threats
• Bowyer makes Chase, says team needs to finish better
• Kenseth back in the Chase, but nees more to contend
• Chaser Biffle eager to move on after rough race at RIR
• At Richmond, Earnhardt falls further into the abyss