Jr. Takes The Checkers, Harvick Ends Up Third.
Sunday, May 7th, 2006 1:43pm CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr mashed the gas all the way to the checkers last night in yet another great race at Richmond International Raceway. In his first win since Chicago last July, Jr passed Kyle Busch (who was also having another great run) with 44 laps remaining bringing rookie Denny Hamlin in tow. Jumping out to a comfortable distance on the last 2 restarts, Jr’s only threat was Denny Hamlin, who never was really close enough to make much of a challenge.
From the beginning it looked to be like a classic Biffle vs Harvick battle shaping up, as Biffle was scored either 1st or 2nd at every 20 lap interval through the first 140 or so laps, with Kevin in the other position. It was some great racing, and a great show.
However, as it’s been the unfortunate case for Greg this year, towards the end of a long green run he and crew chief Doug Richert made the decision to stop under green. This mainly seems to be because of the well known fact that the Roush
camp has been a little short on fuel mileage this year. Their stop successfully completed, the rest of the “Roushketeers” followed suit. All was well, until Carl Edwards was spun by Clint Bowyer as he was entering the pits. Thus killing the green flag pit cycle, and trapping several good cars a lap or more down.
Mark Martin and Pat Tryson lucked out, as the caution flew right as Mark was making the turn towards his pit stall. However,
with some attention to detail, he never ended up stopping, and pulled away down pit road staying on the lead lap.
While from an outside view it might have seemed Biffle was yet again in an unfortunate situation with a dominant car. However far be it a cry for Gerg to throw in the towel. With several cautions falling over the last quarter of the race, he worked his way back through, and came from 2 laps down to finish a remarkable 4th. Had there been a Green-White-Checkerd finish, look out. Biffle was coming, and he was coming fast. This was in part to a 4 tire stop on the previous caution, where he was running 7th. The top 6 stayed out. Regardless, Greg posted his best finish of the year, which was nice to see after their teams unfortunate luck thus far this season.
Then, there’s Kevin Harvick. He led a race high 272 laps, and was the class of the field. According to Kevin, he “Just got tight.” in the late stages of the race. He was passed late in the race by Kyle Busch, Dale Jr, and Denny Hamlin.
Keeping Kevin’s quote in mind, one has to look back and wonder about their call to stay out with just over 100 laps remaining. Leading the race, he was the only one on the lead lap who stayed out. Granted, Kevin was still able to hold them off on the restart, and still had the dominant car, however what was lost was an adjustment sequence and 4 Mr. Feelgood’s. Of course they would have had to stop one more time, but then again, so would everyone else. Had Kevin came in with the rest of the lead lap cars, he could have very well been the one in the circle at the end. From the outside looking in he ended up one adjustment cycle behind the curve and, as we all know, the racing surface is constantly changing and you have to keep up no matter how slight of an adjustment. Had he been towards the end of the lead lap and needed the track position, that is an entirely different case. However, all that said, he still ended up running 3rd at the line when the checkers fell for Jr. Chalk it up as yet another impressive run by what has been touted, and is really coming to light, as an incredibly improved Richard Childress Racing team. Kevin is much more competitive, as is Jeff Burton. Even Clint Bowyer has had some great runs. Although some of their finishes haven’t been the greatest. Add a tick to the rookie block on that one.
All in all it was yet another incredible race at Richmond last night. If you’ve never been there, you’re missing out. Don’t pass by the Frozen Custard stand either. It’s an incredible treat.
Jr’s run last night brought back memories of his first win there, as I sat watching him battle with his father in the closing laps. That was also another great race, and one I’ll remember for a lifetime.
Read the full run down at Nascar.com: Read More
Read the story on Fox Sports: Read More
More on Greg and Kevin’s runs at Nascar.com: Read More
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