Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

 

RICHMOND, Va. — It began as a Toyota blowout and ended in pretty much the same fashion.

 

Not that there weren’t some bumps in the road — or in this case, Richmond International Raceway — along the way. But they were few and far between.

 

Denny Hamlin, the winner when the season began back in February in Daytona, closed the door on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season with a victory in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400.

 

It was Hamlin’s third win of the season, the 11th for the Joe Gibbs Racing organization and the 13th for Toyota.

 

No need to pencil the Joe Gibbs gang in as favorites in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Write it in ink.

 

Joe Gibbs Racing. Chase favorites.

 

Doesn’t mean a JGR driver, or even a Toyota team — let’s not overlook Martin Truex Jr. and the Furniture Row Racing group — will waltz away with the title a little more than two months from now. NASCAR races are often strange affairs filled with strange occurrences. Such was the case Saturday night.

 

Toyota teams led 197 of the first 200 laps and 385 of the 407 that made up the extended 400-lap event.

 

But along the way, particularly in the second half of the race when the air was filled with yellow flags, the start-and-stop nature of the race threatened to turn the event into something completely different. Excessive pit stops meant more tires, but the allotment for each race is finite. Eventually you run out.

 

No one did, fortunately.

 

The racing was physical and no one seemed spared. For those with Chase hopes, however slim, still hanging in the balance, there was no packing it in for the night. Instead it was, fix it fast and get back out there.

 

But in the end, it was a race dominated by Toyotas and that’s been the case quite a number of times this year. With only 10 races remaining, can anyone derail the automaker’s efforts?

 

“I would say I feel pretty confident in our cars,” winning crew chief Mike Wheeler said afterward. “That’s a good feeling to have.”

 

His own team, he said, has gone into the Chase with the feeling that the No. 11 team could win some races and be competitive. “But you always had this feeling of you can get beat,” he said. “If you’re not at 100 percent you can get beat.

 

“I feel good now that if we hit 100 percent, we will win. That’s something you strive for.”

 

JGR fields four teams for drivers Hamlin, defending series champion Kyle Busch, 2003 champ Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Toss in Truex and Furniture Row as well.

 

“We share notes. We work together,” Wheeler said. “We do the best we can for not only Joe Gibbs Racing but Toyota.”

 

But as JGR owner Joe Gibbs noted, Wheeler said, “All it takes is a flat tire or a crash and you’re out.”

 

That’s the new nature of the Chase, where elimination rounds trim the 16-team field by a quarter after every three races. One problem, and a season’s over.

 

Ten races from now, someone will be crowned 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Someone who avoids the unavoidable and doesn’t beat themselves.

 

“I think the other cars that are out there, there’s so many … well‑prepared cars, I think this is going to be a battle,” Gibbs said. “I think …  there’s no way that you can I think pick a favorite right now because it’s really three‑race playoffs (to get to Homestead and the championship round).”

 

Hamlin has fallen by the wayside before, and so, too, has Busch.

 

“You can’t afford a bad race,” Gibbs said. “Our playoff is one where you got to be consistent, but also you got to be on your game and racing extremely hard. I don’t think there is a favorite right now. I think everybody that’s in there is going to have a shot.”

 

Folks thought that going into Richmond, too. Until Hamlin and Gibbs and Toyota proved ’em all wrong.

RELATED: Full race results

 

RICHMOND, Va. — The No. 78 Toyota driven by Martin Truex Jr. failed post-race inspection Saturday night following a third-place finish in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

 

Truex Jr. led the most laps on the evening, 193 of 407, before his No. 78 Toyota failed its pass through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) platform after the race.

 

The car will be taken back to NASCAR’s Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, and will be further evaluated. Any penalties and fines will be assessed this week and are typically announced on Wednesdays.

 

Last week, Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson both failed post-race inspection in the same manner. Both were later docked 15 points and their crew chiefs were fined.

 

Any potential midweek points penalty would count toward Truex’s regular-season points total, not his adjusted Chase total, according to a NASCAR official at Richmond.

RELATED: Richmond results | Official Chase Grid

 

RICHMOND, Va. — A multicar accident triggered by hard racing between former teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman brought out a 20-minute red flag with 37 laps remaining in Saturday night’s regular season finale at Richmond International Raceway.

The incident ruined what chance Newman had of racing himself into a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup position after he entered the race 22 points behind Jamie McMurray for the final spot. That put Newman in a difficult position to advance, and a win appeared to be his best shot.

 

Newman would return to the race, but he finished 28th. Prior to his return, the Richard Childress Racing driver shared his frustration with the media after a mandatory visit to the infield car center.

“Didn’t want to control his anger,” Newman said of his former team owner Stewart, who is retiring at the end of the season. “(My team) will keep fighting like we always do. It’s unfortunate. Not the end we wanted.

“Just disappointing that you have somebody old like that that should be retired the way he drives. It’s just ridiculous.”

Newman, who drove for the Stewart-Haas Racing team for five years from 2009-2012, added, “I was clearly inside of him getting into Turn 1, he cut across my nose. I was on the brakes, on the apron and I hit him coming off of Turn 2 but only because I got loose, I was on the apron.

“The next thing I know he is driving across my nose on the back straightaway because he’s Tony Stewart. He thinks he owns everything. It’s unfortunate. But we shouldn’t expect anything less from him.”

Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet was unable to continue after the incident and the three-time champ stayed in his team hauler until the race was over. A winner at Sonoma Raceway earlier this year, he already had qualified for the Chase and was required to attend a post-race media session and photo shoot with the 16 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers.

Stewart took questions from reporters and defended his actions.

 

“It was a stressful night for (Newman), he was trying to make the Chase,” said Stewart, who finished 33rd. “But if you run into me three times you’re not going to get a free pass. It was the third time he had driven into me during the night. How many times does a guy get a free pass until you’ve had enough of it? He’s got to do his part racing for a championship and trying to get in there and if you’re going to run in there.

 

“I went into (Turn) 1 and he dive-bombs there and I’m already coming down. It’s not like I was trying to squeeze him into the infield or something. Ryan and I have been good friends I wouldn’t do that to him.

“But three times is two more times than I normally let someone run into me.”

 

When told that Newman suggested Stewart hurry his impending retirement plans, Stewart smiled slightly.

“He’ll get his wish in 10 weeks,” Stewart said. “Maybe next year without us here, he’ll get his spot in the Chase that way. He’s a guy that can get in here, and he’s going to win a championship before it’s all said and done. This night didn’t dictate it for him. There were 26 weeks to get you to the Chase, so tonight wasn’t a make-or-break for him. The 25 weeks before that set the tone for tonight and it made it stressful for him and he was trying to make it happen, but you can’t just plow through guys and knock guys out of the way to get there and expect to make it.”