Hamlin finally wins Cup race on home track

Denny Hamlin jumped out of his car, removed his helmet, pumped his fists a few times and made a beeline across the track to pick up the checkered flag.

After jogging back to his car, which he left parked at the bottom of the track, Hamlin climbed back in and did a burnout in front of adoring fans.

Finally, after so many hometown heartaches at Richmond International Raceway, Hamlin could crow.

Dominating pretty much from the outset and leading 298 laps, the Manchester High graduate claimed the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 last night.

Kurt Busch finished second, followed by Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch.

"This is my house," Hamlin said. "It has been for the last two years. We just haven't gotten the win to show for it. Finally, today our FedEx Toyota showed that we're a championship contender."

Hamlin had company on the happy meter. Brian Vickers came on strong in the final 100 laps and beat out Kyle Busch for the 12th and final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Vickers planned to go to the U.S. Open today.

"I'll probably have quite a hangover when I get there," he said. "Right now, my focus is on where I'm going out tonight. I'm really going to party hard tonight.

"We picked a good night to figure this place out."

Also earning spots in the Chase were Kurt Busch, Martin, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle.

Tony Stewart, Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Hamlin already had clinched spots.

Hamlin had been through this scenario before. Twice in the past three races here, he had the strongest car before suffering problems.

In the 2008 spring race, Hamlin led 381 of the first 382 laps before blowing a tire and finishing 24th. In the spring race this year, he led 148 laps before a dropped lug nut during a pit stop led to a 14th-place finish.

This time, there were no mistakes as he waged battles first with Gordon and then Kurt Busch at the end.

Hamlin's other victory this season came at Pocono, just after his grandmother died. He made sure he had the same luck on his side, wearing his grandmother's St. Jude key chain and the same hat.

"I just can't say enough," Hamlin said. "First of all, I'd like to thank the fans, everyone wearing that No. 11 hat or shirts. These are the times where I get so excited."

Hamlin had won a Nationwide race here. But he had been longing for a Sprint Cup win.

"I was trying not to choke," he said. "That's the only thing I can say."

Hamlin and Gordon took turns trading the lead in the first 300 laps. They exchanged it 12 times.

"Our car was just so good," Hamlin said. "We kept adjusting on it all day, and just got it the best there at the end. That was a ball racing with Jeff there for a while up front. I was just trying to measure them up and see what I had in case I had to race these guys at the end. For the most part, we had the dominant car all day."

But Gordon fell off the pace on a restart with less than 75 laps to go. With Hamlin down low on the inside and Gordon on the outside, Clint Bowyer charged down low. Unable to overtake Hamlin, he drifted high and tapped Gordon.

Gordon regained control before hitting the wall but fell from second to sixth.

The longer the runs went, the more Hamlin opened his advantage.

Even a final caution on Lap 382 didn't deter him. He easily held off Kurt Busch.

Matt Kenseth, who started 12th in points, had problems from the start and missed his pit stall once. After starting 28th, he finished 25th and fell behind Kyle Busch into the 14th spot in the Chase.

"We just haven't run good enough to be in the Chase," he said. "Even if we made it, we wouldn't have had a shot at the Chase anyway."