After coming close on a number of occasions Denny Hamlin finally won on his home NASCAR track, while other had highs and lows with the end of the Race for the Chase.

Hamlin has lead many laps at Richmond Virginia but tonight he led the one that counted the last lap of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Hamlin sowed a mixture of joy and relief at finally overcoming his home town jinx and now moves on as one of the driver’s in the Chase for the driver’s crown.

The other side of the Joe Gibbs Racing garage had lees to celebrate with Kyle Busch just missing out on the last spot for the Chase. In thrilling closing laps Busch battled with Brian Vickers for that spot, with it changing hands sometimes on several times a lap as the pair passed or were passed for a position. In the end Vickers prevailed by eight points, despite Kyle Busch recording a solid fifth place finish ahead of Vickers in seventh.

The other main contender for the spot going into the race, Matt Kenseth, missed the Chase for the first time after a horror night at Richmond. Kenseth and his crew could not get the  #17 DeWalt Ford Fusion of Roush-Fenway Racing to handle to Kenseth’s liking and he finished in 25t h spot near the tail end of the lead lap.

“We just haven’t been competitive, so, really since California it’s been a downhill slide for us. We’ve slowly fell back in the points every week, so I can’t say I’m very surprised we didn’t make it, but we’ve been working on it hard, we’re just weak in a few areas,” said Kenseth.

Teammate Greg Biffle managed to make the Chase in eleventh spot with another Roush Fenway Ford that proved hard to set up for the short track race at Richmond.

“If it wasn’t for my pit crew, I wouldn’t be standing here plain and simple. They gave me four spots every single time – four spots – and I’d maintain, maintain, maintain, lose a couple and then a caution would come out and I’d gain four spots. It was quite a night,” said Biffle.

Carl Edwards, despite broken foot, did enough in the #99 Aflac Ford by finishing fifteenth to make the Chase in eighth place on a night where on teh top four were safely in the Chase.

“This is good. At the beginning of the year this is what you hope for, that on this night you’ll be sitting here and be part of the chase. We’ve done it and that’s the first step, so now we just have to go seal the deal,” said Edwards.

While Marcos Ambrose ended up just outside the race for Chase every event is still important for a fledgling team and their sponsors.

“We worked really hard on it in practice, then had a surprisingly good qualifying,” said Ambrose.

After qualifying for sixteenth starting position Ambrose slid back during the night, at one stage going a lap down. Crew chief Frank Kerr found some late race speed for the #47 Clorox Toyota of JTG Daugherty Racing and Ambrose made some ground and finished on the lead lap in 22^nd position.

“For the race we started out not too bad, but lost our way a little in the middle there,” said Ambrose.

“Frank (Kerr) and I never gave up on it and got our Clorox car working a little better towards the end.”

RESULTS: Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway
Race 26 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
1. #11 Denny Hamlin 400 laps
2. #2 Kurt Busch
3. #4 Mark Martin
4. #24 Jeff Gordon
5. #18 Kyle Busch
6. #33 Clint Bowyer
7. #83 Brian Vickers
8. #77 San Hornish Jr
9. #29 Kevin Harvick
10. #39 Ryan Newman
22. #47 Marcos Ambrose

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Standings – After Race 26 of 36
1. Tony Stewart 3806
2. Jeff Gordon 3627
3. Jimmie Johnson 3534
4. Denny Hamlin 3491
5. Kurt Busch 3322
6. Mark Martin 3291
7. Kasey Kahne 3280
8. Carl Edwards 3280
9. Ryan Newman 3272
10. Juan Pablo Montoya 3251
11. Greg Biffle 3249
12. Brian Vickers 3203
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP CUT-OFF
13. Kyle Busch 3195
14. Matt Kenseth 3165
15. Clint Bowyer 3059
16. David Reutimann 3048
17. Marcos Ambrose 2830

AUSTRALIAN TV SCHEDULE

Chevy Rock & Roll 400 (Replay)
Monday 14 September 2009
FOX Sports 2
6:00pm AEST

Chevy Rock & Roll 400 with Intro from Marcos Ambrose
Monday 14 September 2009
ONE
8:35pm AEST

Please check local television guides to confirm times and see scheduled replays.