RELATED: Complete Richmond results
1. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth dominated on Saturday, leading 352 of 400 laps and winning his fourth race of the year.
2. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Despite a late-race vibration, Busch picked up his sixth top-five result of the year.
3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. The pole sitter led 25 laps on Saturday and complained that eventual race winner Matt Kenseth jumped the final restart without penalty.
4. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola, desperate for a win and a second career Chase berth, was turning heads as he raced his way into the top 10 on Saturday. Jeff Gordon radioed, “Is that (No.) 43 for position?” while Almirola raced him for seventh.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Unhappy with his car in practice on Friday, Earnhardt started 29th and climbed through the field, cracking the top five with 80 laps to go.
6. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Playing hurt with an ACL tear, Hamlin briefly paced the Joe Gibbs Racing parade around Richmond, leading Laps 126-138 on Saturday night.
7. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Although winless so far in his final season, Gordon punched his 11th Chase ticket by finishing better than 17th.
8. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski recovered from a pit road speeding penalty during the fifth caution period to record his 18th top-10 of the year.
9. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson was carving his way through the field when crew chief Chad Knaus radioed, “Jimmie, I don’t know what you’re doing when you pass somebody, but you run your fastest laps when you’re passing someone.”
10. Clint Bowyer, No. 15, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer cracked the top 10 on Lap 315, and he held on to his Chase berth thanks to repeat race winner Kenseth.
11. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards was running in the top four with his teammates on Lap 145, but lost several spots after his team made a big adjustment during the Lap 209 stop.
12. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. It was a frustrating night for Larson who, yet again, missed a Richmond top-10 on top of not qualifying for the Chase.
13. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. By simply rolling off the grid 31st on Saturday night, McMurray locked up his first career Chase berth.
14. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick’s pit crew had back-to-back issues lifting the left side of the No. 4 Chevy and resorted to tweaking the jack for subsequent stops.
15. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch struggled to make forward progress as his team hunted for forward drive off Turn 4.
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse lined up 15th for the Lap 296 restart and was continually among the cars battling for the beneficiary pass.
17. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. At the halfway point, Ragan reported that his car refused to turn after 10 green-flag laps.
18. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. After reporting a lack of front grip late in the race, Kahne was pretty quiet on the radio as he watched his Chase hopes fade.
19. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick had a minor setback when she was clocked too fast on pit road during the second caution period.
20. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Despite a frustrating night, Newman still punched his ticket to the Chase because he finished better than 31st.
21. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. The second-fastest in first practice, Mears started getting antsy about his tires during the 85-lap mid-race green-flag run. He caught a break when the caution flag was waved on Lap 98 for debris.
22. Brian Scott, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Scott made his Richmond Cup debut after recording a strong third-place run there in Friday night’s XFINITY Series.
23. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne took advantage of an early beneficiary pass to earn his best Richmond result.
24. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger picked up a couple spots and was running 19th with 60 laps to go after his team made some adjustments, including another round of wedge, during the Lap 290 caution.
25. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. In the second half of the race, Allgaier reported a tight-handling condition and specifically noted he was sliding his front tires.
26. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Fortunately for Menard, his continued streak of finishes outside the top 20 didn’t cost him his first Chase berth.
27. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon’s best Richmond start of 12th was clouded when he spent the race chasing the handling of his No. 3 Chevrolet.
28. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish learned the importance of fresh tires versus track position when he opted not to pit during the third caution period. He restarted second, but plummeted to 18th and a lap down by Lap 200.
29. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Frustrated, Stewart was running 29th on Lap 91 when he radioed his team, “Pretty (expletive) unimpressive going from 10th to a lap down in 90 laps.” Things didn’t improve for Stewart, who later radioed, “I want somebody at the end of this race to tell me how the (expletive) this happened.”
30. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Racing. Cassill’s car appeared to do well on longer runs at first, but soon developed a loose-handling condition.
31. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle entered Saturday’s race needing a win to qualify for the post-season, but ultimately spent the night aggravated with the handling of his car.
32. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex, locked into the Chase thanks to his Pocono win in June, had some early misfortune when he got into the wall on Lap 38.
33. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland’s pit crew made a spring rubber adjustment to alleviate a tight-handling condition when he stopped under caution on Lap 290.
34. J.J. Yeley, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley toughed it out on the same set of tires for almost 100 laps early on Saturday at Richmond, but that cost him track position.
35. Brett Moffitt, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Moffitt’s second outing at Richmond was quiet as he fought a loose-handling condition.
36. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto made his best career start at Richmond, but struggled to stay on the lead lap at the .75-mile oval.
37. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. A persistent loose-handling condition early in Saturday night’s race made it hard for Bowman to improve his track position.
38. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt had to make an unscheduled pit stop after the Lap 218 restart because a valve stem was knocked off his tire.
39. Jeb Burton, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. “Tell (No.) 46 sorry,” Burton radioed his team after making contact with Michael Annett to bring out the third caution flag. “I don’t know what I could have done right there.”
40. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go FAS Racing. In his Cup debut, Jeffrey Earnhardt rolled off the grid 42nd and worked with his team to manage his brakes and tires.
41. Reed Sorenson, No. 98 Ford, Phil Parsons Racing. Sorenson lost his engine early on and leaked oil on his way to the garage, triggering the first caution.
42. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Ford, Leavine Family Racing. McDowell basically ripped off his car’s back-end when he accidentally hit the safety truck during the fifth caution and retreated behind the wall.
43. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett was running 32nd on Lap 112 when he made contact with other competitors, spun on the backstretch and hit the Turn 3 wall hard.
