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By: Zack Albert
RICHMOND, Va.-- NASCAR's first stop of the season at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday featured a little bit of everything -- a return to daytime racing, a three-time champion's 2016 debut, and a last-lap bump-and-run among teammates. NASCAR.com's Zack Albert breaks down the key takeaways from the last of three short-track events in April, the Toyota Owners 400.
RICHMOND, Va.-- NASCAR's first stop of the season at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday featured a little bit of everything -- a return to daytime racing, a three-time champion's 2016 debut, and a last-lap bump-and-run among teammates. NASCAR.com's Zack Albert breaks down the key takeaways from the last of three short-track events in April, the Toyota Owners 400.
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Afternoon delight
Richmond International Raceway marked a return to regularly scheduled daytime racing for the first time since 1997. The altered racing characteristics largely won raves from drivers, who often fanned out to three-wide on restarts and enjoyed plenty of passing throughout the pack.Edwards was among those giving the NASCAR matinee a thumbs-up, calling it 'the most fun I've had at Richmond' in his 40 national series starts on the .75-mile track. 'I think the day race, the heat helped, the lower downforce package helped, the Goodyear tire helped,' Edwards added. 'It was just really a lot of fun to race.'
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JGR power struggle
Carl Edwards' act of wresting victory away from Kyle Busch via last-lap nudge injected intrigue into the enduring story line of Joe Gibbs Racing's strong performance this year. Edwards not only drew even with Busch in the win column with his second triumph of the season, but he also firmly planted his name in the discussion of early prospective championship contenders.Expect the differences to sort themselves out quickly within the JGR organization, but after Edwards' aggressive move, also anticipate that the rules of engagement likely have changed, establishing hard racing as an accepted part of the intra-team mix.
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Stewart's season begins
Three-time champion Tony Stewart turned his first competitive laps since breaking his back Jan. 31 in an all-terrain vehicle accident, finishing 19th in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet. His in-car radio chatter remained chipper most of the day, but with lively spurts of irritation that have been one of the irascible Stewart's trademarks.Stewart earned 22 championship points, slotting him 40th in the standings and 101 points behind 30th-place Matt DiBenedetto. He needs both a victory and a top-30 finish to clinch a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff berth when the series returns to Richmond in September.
MORE: Stewart eager for more after RIchmond return
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Kurt's close call
Kurt Busch led twice for 55 laps, swapping the top spot with his brother in the late stages and priming himself for a repeat of his Richmond victory last spring. But Busch lost four positions in the last round of pit stops, dropping from the lead to fifth place for the final restart.'We're all in this together,' Busch told his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 team over the radio during the final caution period. The former series champion -- jostled during the scrambling and scratching of the last restart -- wound up 10th.
MORE: Busch vents frustrations after stop
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Penske perseveres
Joey Logano started from the front row for the third straight time at Richmond, which made his early plummet through the field all the more striking. After just 100 of the 400 laps, Logano found himself a lap down and in 29th place, struggling to find the right balance and grip from his Team Penske No. 22 Ford.Logano rallied, returning to the lead lap as the beneficiary of the fourth of Sunday's eight yellow flags. He salvaged an eighth-place effort -- his third consecutive top-10 -- in finishing just ahead of 11th-place teammate Brad Keselowski.