Virginia is for Lovers, Not Points Leaders

Dale Earnhardt Jr. however loves Richmond. After puling to the point at lap 44 he wouldn’t look back on his way to his 3rd win at the track and 17th overall in his career. It shows either a major departure from the problems of last year or a huge turn around from last year, your choice.

Harvick was the dominant car all night long taking the lead early and not letting go for much of the race. It was a mid race non pit stop that hurt his chances for winning, not that he had a bad race as he finished 3rd and moved up another spot in the points chase. He lead for a career high 272 laps, almost one third of the race.

Earnhardt did make the pit stop for four fresh tires and fuel to go the distance. Even as a few late race cautions flew Earnhardt would not give up the lead for his first win this season. "I think we are there,'' he said. "We keep taking our shots, but we're pretty competitive. Everything is working really great. I couldn't ask for any position on this team to be any better.” His perfect doughnuts engulfing the red number 8 in white smoke caped the evening. And, for the first time he blew a tire after the race and not during it.

The points leaders did not fair as well. It started with a loose plug wire on Kasey Kahne’s Charger only part way into the race. He pulled into the garage and went 5 laps down to fix the problem. Even after getting one lap back he would finish 34th. Matt Kenseth did not fair much better. He broke a brake rotor that bounced into his oil tank cause it to leak. He would bring his Ford home to a 39th place finish. This would be only one spot better than Jeff Gordon, who’s team could not figure out what happened to his engine.

Denny Hamlin would get a career best second place; Greg Biffle scored a season best 4th, after struggling much of the year. Kyle Busch would round out the top five. Point leader Jimmie Johnson would struggle after an early race caution to finish 12th.