Vickers also wins in Hamlin's house

RICHMOND, Va. - Denny Hamlin won the race, and even more importantly, Brian Vickers won the race to get in the Chase.

In dominating fashion at Richmond International Raceway, Richmond-area native Hamlin won the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Saturday night and earned his first Sprint Cup Series victory at his hometown track.

Hamlin led 299 of the 400 laps and held off Kurt Busch for his second series win of the season and sixth of his career. His 20 bonus points for his victories also earned him the fourth seed in the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup used to determine the series champion.

While Hamlin's participation in the Chase was secured before Saturday's race, it was still up in the air for eight other drivers.

In the end, one dropped out of the top 12 – Matt Kenseth – and one raced his way in to take Kenseth's place. That was Vickers, with the help of his seventh-place finish.

While Vickers and his Red Bull Racing team will make their first appearance in the Chase, Kenseth's record of participating in every Chase since its inception in 2004 (which he shared with Jimmie Johnson) came to an abrupt end.

“This is my house. It has been for the last two years, we just haven't got the win to show it,” Hamlin said. “Finally, (we) showed that we're a championship contender. They better watch out for us and now we're for real.”

Although Hamlin said his Joe Gibbs Racing team has had a difficult task of keeping up with the Hendrick Motorsports teams and those at Stewart-Haas Racing - which are utilizing Hendrick equipment - he remains confident of his championship chances.

“It's just a challenge to keep up, I'll be honest with you,” Hamlin said. “Our cars have really got to be ‘on' to challenge them for race wins.

“You know we can run, we can top-five them to death and things like that, but it seems like here lately, our cars have been getting a little bit better.”

While Hamlin celebrated his victory with a burnout on the frontstretch, Vickers had his own impromptu party near his car parked on pit road.

Several well-wishers stopped by, including team owner Rick Hendrick, with whom Vickers started his NASCAR career. Also there to congratulate him were his crew chief, Ryan Pemberton, Red Bull Racing general manager Jay Frye and Lee White, the general manager for Toyota Racing Development.

“This was a group effort. It's been 26 races long, it's not just tonight,” Vickers said. “It's not just one race and nobody gave up. It's a 2½ year-old program, from scratch – just so proud of everybody and all the support.”

Frye said Vickers' win at Michigan, combined with a spot in the Chase is paying big dividends for the organization.

“Their expectations were high. We're very thankful (Red Bull) gives us the opportunity to do what we do,” he said. “They give us a chance to compete at a high level, and for us that is very exciting.

“We're paying them back a little bit.”

While there were 12 drivers excited about their chance to compete for the series title, there were at least two Saturday night – Kenseth and Kyle Busch – disappointed they didn't make it.

Busch has four race wins this season, which would have made him one of the top seeds. But his fifth-place finish on Saturday wasn't enough to overcome the deficit he faced entering the race.

“We didn't have the best of years to be consistent and, unfortunately, that bit us,” Busch said. “We can always look toward the rest of the year to try to win some races and go out with a bang and try to build on something for next year.”

Joining Hamlin and Vickers in the Chase this season are Mark Martin (the top seed), Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle.

Of the group, four – Edwards, Newman, Montoya and Biffle - have not won this season.