Times wires
Friday, April 29, 2011
Hamlin takes win in Nationwide
RICHMOND, Va. — Make it two wins in two nights for Denny Hamlin at his home track.
Hamlin, who was born in Brandon but raised in Virginia, grabbed the lead for the first time 44 laps into Friday night's NASCAR Nationwide series race at Richmond International Raceway and dominated from there.
He lost the lead briefly in the Bubba Burger 250 when he pitted under a green flag and again when Tampa's Aric Almirola got underneath him after the first restart then grabbed it back for good six laps later.
The victory was Hamlin's 11th in NASCAR's second-tier series and came one night after he passed Kyle Busch on the last lap to win his charity race at the track.
"It's one big snowball that's rolling and rolling," he said. "Hopefully it keeps going."
Another Sprint Cup regular, Paul Menard, finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, who took the series points lead.
Almirola ran out of gas in the closing laps and came back to cross the finish line fifth only to be penalized for speeding on pit road. He wound up 14th.
Hamlin has hosted a charity race in the Richmond area for a few years, but Thursday was the first one at RIR. He said he will give 10 percent of the proceeds from that event to help victims of this week's tornados. His usual charities (the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, St. Jude Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital in Richmond) will get the other 90 percent of money raised.
Montoya takes Richmond pole
Juan Montoya took the pole Friday for tonight's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond with a lap of 128.639 mph on the 0.75-mile oval.
Montoya, still seeking his first oval victory in the series to go with his two road-course wins, earned his second No. 1 starting spot of the season and first ever on a short track.
"If the cars runs somewhere near what it did in practice, we might have a chance," Montoya said.
Regan Smith qualified second, the best starting spot of his career, at 128.352 mph.
Who are they?
Tonight's Cup race is named for U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Matthew Hansen, who won a contest, and his late brother, Daniel. Matthew Hansen, who has been deployed to Iraq three times, won a name-the-race contest in February and shares the honor with his twin brother and fellow Marine, who was killed in action Feb. 14, 2009.
Elsewhere
Kasey Kahne said he expects to feel some soreness in his surgically repaired right knee during tonight's Cup race. He had surgery April 18 on the meniscus. He also had surgery on both knees in November but said he re-injured the right one this season when he slipped while exercising. … Former Indianapolis 500 champ Buddy Rice returns with Panther Racing for the May 29 race. The 2004 Indy winner hasn't raced in IndyCar in two years. … Tony Schumacher set the fast time in the first two rounds of Top Fuel qualifying at the Spring Nationals in Baytown, Texas, with a run of 3.817 seconds at 323.81 mph. John Force (Funny Car), Ronnie Humphrey (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also led their classes.
Times wires
Tribute of the day
Indianapolis 500 officials plan to honor the late Tom Carnegie on May 21 during pole qualifying day. The track's longtime public address announcer died Feb. 11 at 91. Track officials are expected to name the new public address stand in Carnegie's honor, will replay his signature calls throughout qualifying and will play highlights of Carnegie's career on the track's video boards. Carnegie's baritone bellowed trademark phrases such as "He's on it!" and "It's a new track record!" from 1946 to 2006. Even after his retirement, his voice was still heard frequently in May on the track's sound system.
Number of the day
4 Consecutive Sprint Cup wins for Toyota — all by Joe Gibbs Racing — at Richmond, site of tonight's race. Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have two each.