Crown Royal 400 - Richmond International Raceway

Dale Jr. Takes Richmond Win Under the Lights
Dale Earnhardt Jr. snapped a 28-race winless streak tonight at Richmond International Raceway with a victory in the Crown Royal 400, scoring his 17th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 229th career start. Earnhardt’s last victory came at Chicagoland Speedway in July 2005, 28 races ago. Four of Earnhardt’s 17 victories have come on a short track, including three at Richmond. His first short track victory came at Richmond in his rookie season in 2000. Earnhardt now becomes the seventh different race winner in 2006 while becoming the first repeat race winner in the 10 races at Richmond since September 2001. With the win, Earnhardt moved to 38th on NASCAR’s all-time winners list tied with Jeff Burton, Marvin Panch, and Curtis Turner. Earnhardt has won a race each season 2000-2006, seven consecutive years. This was Dale Earnhardt Incorporated’s 23rd NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory and its third NEXTEL Cup victory at Richmond. Earnhardt rode the win up the point standings, climbing from eighth to sixth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings. After 10 races in 2005, he ranked ninth in the point standings. Earnhardt led three times for 47 laps, including the final 45 laps, in the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond. Kevin Harvick was dominant most of the night and led the most laps for the sixth time in his career. Harvick led four times for a total of 272 laps but was third at the finish line when the checkered flag flew. Rookie Denny Hamlin gave Dale Jr. all that he could handle on the final restart with seven laps to go. Although he failed to get the win, Hamlin posted his career-best finish with a second-place effort in his first race at Richmond International Raceway, finishing 0.572 seconds behind Junior. Greg Biffle considered his fourth-place finish a victory as he jumped out of his car shouting, “I won! I finally won!” Although he has ran extremely well this season, Biffle has had more than his share of bad luck. This was his first top-five finish of the season and was able to climb from 23rd to 20th in the point standings. Kyle Busch in fifth scored his third top-five finish in three races at Richmond. It was his fifth top-10 finish in 2006. Dave Blaney extended a 28-race streak of running at the finish that began at Pocono last June and is the longest current streak.

Crown Royal 400 Notes

· Race Results · Chevrolet Post-Race Quotes · Ford Post-Race Quotes · Dodge Post-Race Quotes · Point Standings · Owner Point Standings · Chevrolet Satuday Quotes · Starting Lineup · Qualifying Results · Ford Qualifying Quotes · Dodge Qualifying Quotes · Chevrolet Qualifying Quotes · Final Practice · Qualifying Order · Chevrolet Friday Quotes · Ford Friday Quotes · Entry List · Race Notes · Weekend Schedule · MRN Notes · Raybestos Rookie Notes · David Stremme Notes · Scott Wimmer Notes · Michael Waltrip Notes · Sterling Marlin Notes

· Jimmie Johnson Notes · Matt Kenseth Notes · Tony Stewart Notes · Kasey Kahne Notes · Mark Martin Notes · Kevin Harvick Notes · Dale Earnhardt Jr. Notes · Kyle Busch Notes · Dale Jarrett Notes · Casey Mears Notes · Jeff Burton Notes · Brian Vickers Notes · Carl Edwards Notes · Kurt Busch Notes · Jamie McMurray Notes · Clint Bowyer Notes · Denny Hamlin Notes · Jeff Green Notes · Greg Biffle Notes · Reed Sorenson Notes · Scott Riggs Notes · Ryan Newman Notes · Joe Nemechek Notes · Dave Blaney Notes · Jeremy Mayfield Notes

Greg Biffle on Nextel Cup Pole in Richmond
Greg Biffle won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series pole position this evening, capturing the top starting position for the Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Biffle clocked in at 21.194 seconds, at and average speed of 127.395 mph, to win his third career Bud Pole in 124 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races. Biffle now has at total of two Bud Poles and nine top-10 starts this season, more than any other driver. Biffle’s troubles this season have not come in qualifying, he has had more than his fair share of bad luck and been unable to get the finishes that reflect how well he has ran. This is Biffle’s first pole at Richmond, it is his sixth consecutive top-10 start here, after qualifying 37th and 15th in his first two attempts. Biffle give Ford their third Bud Pole of the season, putting all three manufactures in a tie for most poles. Chevrolet and Dodge also have three each. Mark Martin made it an all-Roush front row after posting the second-quickest qualifying lap of 21.255 seconds, at an average speed of 127.029 mph. For Martin, it is his sixth top-10 start of the 2006 season and his 22nd top-10 start in 41 Richmond races. This is the first 1-2 sweep of qualifying for Ford since Kansas City last fall. Casey Mears notched his season-best start, qualifying third, his second top-10 effort in 2006. Brian Vickers will roll off fourth, his first start of better than 22nd since he won the Bud Pole in his first race here in May 2004. Point Leader Jimmie Johnson will start fifth, posting his seventh top-10 start of the 2006 season. It is his fifth top-10 start in nine races at Richmond.