On a night where Denny Hamlin finally captured an elusive win at his hometown track of Richmond, he was overshadowed by the battle for the final spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

And after 26 grueling races, the 12 drivers for the Sprint Cup have been decided. And for the first time since the Chase began in 2004, the driver with the most wins will begin the Chase on the outside looking in.

Brian Vickers began the race sitting 13th in the points standings, and managed to capitalize on Matt Kenseth’s struggles to claim the 12th and final spot in the Chase field. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, NASCAR’s “bad boy”, who dominated the sport last season with eight wins, missed the Chase cutoff by just eighth points.

Busch was understandably frustrated following the race, but seemed accepting of the result. “Unfortunately we are here in this predicament but we will live to see another day,” he said. “We'll go on for the rest of the year. And you know, it's not just one race that we can look at that we can pick instances. We have had 10 or 12 races through the year where we finished terrible. So you know, those are the races, that is what has kept us out of this Chase, not necessarily these last two.”

Hamlin, Busch’s teammate, finally took home the victory at Richmond International Speedway, a track where he has dominated lately, but failed to capitalize late. He dominated the race again, leading 299 of 400 laps.

“I know how special the Daytona 500 is to everyone,” Hamlin said. “But this one in particular, to me, especially after all the heartbreak…it’s by far the biggest win of my career and hopefully goes a long way for this race team over the next 10 weeks.”
The victory was Hamlin’s second of the season, vaulting him in the standings as the field was reset for the Chase.

Sprint Cup Standings: (Following Chase re-seeding) 1. Mark Martin (5040 points), 2. Jimmie Johnson (-10), 3.Tony Stewart (-10), 4. Kasey Kahne (-20), 5. Denny Hamlin (-10), 6. Kurt Busch (-30), 7. Jeff Gordon (-30), 8. Brian Vickers (-30), 9. Ryan Newman (-40), 10. Greg Biffle (-40), 11. Carl Edwards (-40), 12. Juan Pablo Montoya (-40).

Nationwide Series:
Carl Edwards didn’t let his broken foot stop him from claiming a victory in the Nationwide Series. He led the final 24 laps of the Virginia 529 College Savings 250. Kevin Harvick was second, followed by Kyle Busch in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth, and David Reutimann in fifth. Kyle Busch now leads Carl Edwards by 201 points with eighth races left.

Camping World Truck Series: Mike Skinner led six laps en route to victory at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill. His victory in the Copart 200 was his third victory of 2009. Johnny Sauter finished a season-high second, followed by Brian Scott in third, Aric Almirola in fourth, and Tayler Malsam in fifth. Ron Hornaday leads Matt Crafton by 197 points with eighth games.

Coming Up: The Chase for the Sprint Cup begins as the drivers hit the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first of 10 races. The Camping World Truck Series also heads to New Hampshire, while the Nationwide Series enjoys an off weekend.

Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com

.