Richmond thoughts and observations

Clint Bowyer stole the show Saturday night, squeezing by Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. during a late crash to take home the victory in the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway. It was Bowyer's second career victory, he was followed to the line by Busch, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr.

Thoughts and observations:

Its been a very long time since I've seen anyone dominate a race like Denny Hamlin did Saturday then fall short at the end. It had to be a major disappointment for Hamlin, who's hometown is basically a superb of Richmond. He's young, so I'm sure he'll get another shot at victory at Richmond.

Question: Why in the world did Denny Hamlin wait and let his tire blow rather then just pitting? He knew it was losing air, why not just pit and get the tire replaced? Instead, Hamlin let the tire blow and he ended up stopping on the track to draw a caution, which resulted in a two lap penalty. Not smart driving by any means.

The question on the lips of every NASCAR fan in America: Did Kyle Busch mean to wreck Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 298 or was it really just good, hard racing? I honestly don't know the answer to the question, and odds are the NASCAR world in general probably will never know. The fact is both men probably could have given each other a bit more room, so its hard to say really who was at fault, if anyone was.

I thought Talladega was last week, wasn't it? That monster crash that involved 11 cars was just ugly. Pretty much everyone involved was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kenseth, Johnson, Montoya, Busch, McDowell, Sauter, Burton, Gilliland and more were involved. Carpentier got the worst of it, getting spun down into the entrance of turn three where he smacked the wall hard. Then the car, still spinning, went right back up into traffic. Ouch.

Mark Martin's gotta be itching to win a race, he's had cars capable of winning at Phoenix and at Richmond now. If he keeps that up its only going to be a matter of time before the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet ends up in victory lane.

Clint Bowyer proved that just hanging around and keeping your nose clean can pay off. When Busch and Earnhardt Jr. got together, Bowyer saw his opening and grabbed it, taking the lead for the first time all night. I bet if he could win every race that way, he'd gladly take it.

Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Champions Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch have got to be wondering what is wrong. Kenseth has finished 30th or worse in four of his last five starts. Busch on the other hand hasn't had a top 10 since finishing second in the Daytona 500 in February (he also hasn't finished in the top 20 since Bristol and only has 9 laps led all year). Kenseth is 22nd in points, Busch sits 24th.

The top 35 battle didn't change any this week, much like last week. The first car in is Sam Hornish Jr. in the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge. The first driver out, on the other hand, is Dave Blaney in the No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota.