Hamlin Dominates but Boyer Wins!
Monday, May 5th, 2008By: Drew Hierwarter
You can’t ever leave early from a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Just ask all the fans who tried to beat the traffic out of Richmond last Saturday night. In a way, you can’t blame them. Denny Hamlin led 381 of 400 laps and looked to be a lock for the win. In a sport where races can be won or lost by a hundredth of a second, Hamlin at various points during the race was leading by as much as four or five full seconds! There was no one who could run with him. Until, with less than twenty laps to go, he slowed due to a flat tire. All those fans who were out in the parking lot by this time were probably wondering what all the cheering was about.
They were cheering because Dale Earnhardt, Jr was now leading and pulling away from second place runner Kyle Busch. Earnhardt hasn’t won in two years and it looked like now, finally, victory would be his. Earnhardt’s legions of fans were on their feet. The only way Busch could get within striking distance of the 88 was if there was a caution flag. Well, somebody must’ve relayed that little piece of information to Kyle’s teammate Hamlin because he pulled his crippled car up to the outside wall and stopped. NASCAR had no choice now but to throw the yellow and, as soon as they did, Hamlin put the car in gear and calmly drove to the pits, where NASCAR officials held him for two laps for intentionally drawing the caution flag.
On the restart, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. were racing side-by-side for a lap and half with neither one gaining a clear advantage. Then in turn three, Busch dove inside Earnhardt, got loose, the cars touched, Earnhardt wrecked, Busch went high, and Clint Boyer dove under both of them and beat a hasty exit to the checkered flag. And the fans who had beat a hasty exit to the gates, could only sit in their cars, in the traffic they were trying to avoid, and listen to it all unfold on the radio.
Those who had remained in the stands were angry at Kyle Busch and expressed that anger with jeers and gestures. Tempers were also heated on pit road. But Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was more disappointed than angry. It was hard racing by two guys who wanted to win more than anything else, and he understands that. If there is any anger, it should be directed at the 11 team. They intentionally caused a caution period that completely changed the outcome of the race. And the resulting controversy has overshadowed Clint Boyer’s second career Sprint Cup victory.
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NHRA Photo
Congratulations are due John Force for scoring his 1,000th round win in NHRA Funny Car competition. It happened against Ron Capps in the first round of eliminations on Sunday in St. Louis. This is yet another milestone in an incredible career that will most likely never be equaled.