Sprint Cup Recap — Carl Edwards Wins Richmond; Chase Field Set
Carl Edwards outran Paul Menard off a late restart and held on to win the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia on Saturday night.
Edwards and Menard moved to the front of the field after a Clint Bowyer spin brought out a caution flag with just seven laps remaining. Edwards sped away from Menard on the final restart with just three laps to go and staved off the field for the win. Kurt Busch took second with Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and a fading Menard completing the top five finishers.
Matt Kenseth moved into first place in the Sprint Cup series standings. Former standings leader Jimmie Johnson finished 40th on Saturday and dropped into a second place tie with Kyle Busch — three points behind Kenseth.
Kenseth, Johnson and Busch will be joined in the Chase for the Championship by Edwards, Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and wild cards Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr.
Defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski and four-time series champ Jeff Gordon failed to qualify for the Chase, which starts next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.