Observations from Saturday’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway

By Mike Smith (contact)

Saturday, May 3, 2008 | 11:37 p.m.

Kyle Busch better hightail it back to his hometown of Las Vegas and enlist the protective services of several wise guys if he wants to save himself from the wrath of an angry Junior Nation. Regardless of whether or not Kyle was to blame for denying Dale Jr. his chance at his first win in 71 races, the army of Dale Jr. fans will hold Kyle responsible. Imagine how furious Junior Nation would have been if Kyle had taken the checkered flag.

Denny Hamlin set the record for the most laps led in a race at Richmond. He was out front for 381 of the 400 laps. It looked like he had the checkered flag in his pocket until he was cheated out of a win by an uncooperative right front tire. Once the tire was flat, Denny stayed on the track longer than he should have which eventually brought out the caution. The wreck between Dale Jr. and Kyle happened after the restart. I wonder if the outcome of the race might have been different for Dale Jr. if Denny had decide to pit earlier, which would have allowed the green flag to continue to fly.

Did you see the replay of the wreck between Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears? At first it looked like Michael’s car was superglued to the rear of Casey’s machine after their wreck. But once you heard the audio of the replay, it was very clear that Michael jumped on the gas and intentionally used the nose of his car as a snowplow. NASCAR made the right call when it decided to park Waltrip for the remainder of the race.

What will make the black cloud hanging over Kurt Busch disappear? He has had an unremarkable season so far which includes two consecutive DNFs. If there’s anyone who deserves a break, it’s Kurt.

Will tonight’s race only serve to intensify the rivalry between Dale Jr. and Kyle Busch? I hope so.

Below is the video of the controversial wreck involving Dale Jr. and Kyle.

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