NASCAR notes: Hamlin has good start

Hamlin has good start

Denny Hamlin continued to run up his laps-led meter at Richmond International Raceway in the early going last night.

Hamlin, a former Chesterfield resident, started third. He passed Martin Truex Jr. on the first lap, then took the lead from pole-sitter Mark Martin on Lap 3.

Hamlin was so dominant that he lapped Max Papis on Lap 31. Shortly after passing Papis, Hamlin opened a 1.31-second lead.

Hamlin now has led at least one lap in all eight of his Richmond starts. In the past three races here, he had led 533 laps.

Stewart, Sorenson bring out a caution

Tony Stewart and Reed Sorenson tangled on Lap 46, causing the second caution of the race.

Sorenson was sandwiched between David Stremme on the outside and Stewart on the bottom of the track. Stewart got loose and slid up the track, striking Sorenson and turning both of them sideways. Stremme avoided the incident.

"It's my fault, guys," Stewart told his pit crew over the radio.

Kenseth struggles early

Matt Kenseth, who entered last night clinging to the 12th and final Chase spot, went backwards almost from the start.

After starting 28th, he took advantage of the race's third caution to pit from the back of the pack. The changes didn't work, as he immediately complained of a car without grip.

Matters were even worse when, on his pit after a debris caution on Lap 108, he missed his pit, instead landing in Michael Waltrip's. He restarted 31st on Lap 111.

Edwards goes backward

Carl Edwards started the race going in the wrong direction. The announcer said, "Gentlemen, start your engines" and Edwards went backward. Edwards, in the No. 99 Aflac Ford, started 10th and nearly rolled back into 11th-place Reed Sorenson. Edwards appeared to struggle handling the car and fell to 30th by lap 45.

Edwards broke his foot in a volleyball accident with friends and won the Nationwide series race Friday night.

Race's start delayed

A rain shower delayed the start of the race by 27 minutes.

The shower hit the track about 70 minutes before the scheduled 7:45 start. Blower truckers still were drying the track just before the start.

Vickers works on short-track package

Brian Vickers entered last night's race in need of a strong finish to get into the Chase. He put himself in position to make a good run, starting in sixth position.

"Richmond hasn't always been my best track," Vickers said. "We've sat on two poles here, so it's been a good track for us, but not the best.

"I still believe we have a shot at it. But since moving to Red Bull, our short-track package has suffered the most.

"We have the short run part of it fixed, the first 10-15 laps. It's fixing the rest of it now. And I really feel good about it. If we can go as well on the long runs as on the short runs, we're going to lead a lot of laps.

Playoff system suits points champ Johnson

The drivers who finish 13th and 14th in the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup might not be all that thrilled with the system.

Jimmie Johnson, sitting in second place in points and with a spot in the Chase clinched, doesn't mind the format. And when he was asked how he would tweak it to improve it, he couldn't come up with any ideas.

Johnson has won three consecutive points championships, making him and Cale Yarborough the only drivers with that accomplishment.

"The system has worked pretty well for me the last three years," Johnson said, laughing. "I didn't like the idea of it at first. It took a while to grasp it. In the end, look at how it's helped the sport. It's good for the fans overall. It's worked pretty well for me the last three years."

-- Steve Trosky, Sara Page, Tim Pearrell, Shawn Fenner, Paul Woody