It was a wild and wooly finish to the final ‘Race for the Chase’ at Richmond International Raceway for the Federated Auto Parts 400 on Saturday evening. Richmond was the 26th race of the season and the point at which the field of contenders for the Sprint Cup this racing season is cut to the 10 top drivers plus 2 wildcard spots.
At the beginning of the race, there were still 4 positions left to be filled for the chase not to mention the two wild card spots. The competition was predictably hot for the very start of the race and the finish was the stuff that brings them out to the track and makes NASCAR races rival NFL football for popularity with the public.
Carl Edwards ended up winning the race by a whole .668 seconds in front of Kurt Busch and in doing so irrevocably changed the fate for this season for four of his fellow drivers. Actually it was Clint Bowyer spinning out with only seven laps to go which tossed the fortunes of so many hopefuls out the window.
In earlier action Joey Logano knocked 4-time NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon out of the Top 10 running and out of the Chase as well… by one point! That last dust-up worked out well for Martin Truex Jr. who managed to slip into the number 12 wildcard spot during the ruckus and knocking out Ryan Newman who many already had penciled in for the chase group.
Although Jeff Gordon might have been beaten out of the Chase for only the second time since the Chase scenario was instituted back in 2004, NASCAR has come up with a little compensation for coming in 13th in the form of a check for one million bucks which he will receive at the presentation ceremonies at the end of the season. That should make missing out on the Chase a little easier to take.
Bowyer’s big spin out in lap 343 of the 400 lap race started when Jimmie Johnson blew a tire and caused the 88, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. to somehow end up under Clint Bowyer and spin him out as well.
When questioned about motives, Bowyer said after the race, “It’s unfortunate. I know it’s a lot of fun for you guys to write a lot of wacky things. Go ahead, if you want to. Get creative. But, don’t look too much into it.”
