RICHMOND, Va. — Denny Hamlin went from last to first to the top seed in NASCAR’s race for the Sprint Cup championship.
Hamlin snapped a monthlong slump Saturday night with another win at Richmond International Raceway, his home track, by holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for the victory. And it came a week after his last-place finish at Atlanta, where he had a dominant car before his engine failed.
It was Hamlin’s series-best sixth win of the season and pushed him past four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson for the top seed in the Chase. The points were reset after Saturday night’s race, and Hamlin goes to the Chase opener next week at New Hampshire with a 10-point lead over Johnson.
“I hope you guys are ready for a good 10 weeks,” he radioed his crew.
It’s the first time in Hamlin’s career he has been the points leader.
“At this point now, the confidence level is pretty high,” Hamlin said. “We could have had two wins in a row going into the Chase, but last week is in the past and right now I just feel really confident in the team.”
Regular-season points leader Kevin Harvick took the third seed, 30 points behind Hamlin. Busch, also 30 behind Hamlin, gave Toyota and JGR a 1-2 finish.
Kurt Busch, winner of the inaugural 2004 Chase, is the fifth seed, followed by Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle, who secured his spot in the 12-driver field just 30 laps into Saturday night when driver Jason Leffler called it a night.
Biffle was guaranteed a spot in the Chase by finishing 42nd or better. He wound up 32nd.
“We knew we were going to qualify for the Chase, but we felt we would run a little better than that,” Biffle said. “Our cars keep breaking and we seem to have stuff wrong with them.”
Jeff Gordon will be seeded eighth.
