NASCAR Podcast
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(May 1, 2009)(Photo Credit: CIA Stock)
RICHMOND, Va. — In a five-lap run to the finish after the 10th caution of the race, Kyle Busch held off Carl Edwards by .584 seconds in Friday night’s Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway.
The victory was Busch’s third of the year, his third at Richmond and his 24th in the series. Busch extended his lead over Edwards in the championship standings to 82 points.
The Final Lap – Richmond Preview
Fri, May 1, 2009 9:43 AM
What is the status of Dodge? Is Edwards a hypermiler? Champions Week moves to Las Vegas, Tony Stewart’s Prelude Details, a full Richmond preview, and we hear from Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Listen Here (2.9 MB)
Racing in front of hundreds of friends and family, all the while attempting to grab a most coveted victory at a hometown track, can unload heavy pressure on any driver.
Any driver except Denny Hamlin, apparently.
Richmond International Raceway is Denny Hamlin’s Holy Grail track. He wants to win there more than any other track – and he’s come achingly close.
The most glaring example took place last season at the spring Richmond race. Hamlin won the pole that race, and went on to lead 381 laps – only to finish 24th thanks to an end-of-race tire problem.
In that event, Hamlin had race-high marks in Average Running Position (2.3), Driver Rating (129.1) and Fastest Laps Run (104).
That was just one race in a long line of successful races at Richmond for the native of nearby Chesterfield, Va.
Hamlin has raced at Richmond six times, and every time he has led laps. He has also registered three top fives, four top 10s and two poles (coincidentally each pole resulted in a finish outside the top 10).
Continue reading “Denny Hamlin hopes for home state win at Richmond”
First-Time Winners — Making just his fifth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday, Brad Keselowski (No. 09 Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet) was the surprise winner in a wild finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
The victory, Keselowski’s first in NASCAR’s premier racing series, qualifies him as a driver for next month’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
“Talladega is such a crapshoot,” Keselowski said shortly after his landmark victory. “You can’t expect anything. You can’t expect to win; you can’t expect not to win. I was here today to win and I’ve got no other reason to be here than to win and put these guys in Victory Lane.”
Continue reading “Finch & Keselowski grab first time Cup wins”
The Final Lap Weekly 