Denny Hamlin cruises at Richmond

To the surprise of almost no one, the Air Guard 400 on Saturday produced no drama in filling out the 12-man field for the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. Instead, a near-capacity crowd of 95,000 at Richmond International Raceway got something it surely craved even more: a dominant performance from hometown favorite Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin, a native of nearby Chesterfield, led 251 of 400 laps on the three-quarter-mile oval, holding off the challenge of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in the final 35 laps. By winning his Cup-high sixth victory of the season, Hamlin secured the top seeding in the Chase, NASCAR’s season-ending 10-race playoff.

Four-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will start as the second-seeded driver when the Chase begins Sunday in Loudon, N.H. Johnson was third at Richmond, with Joey Logano fourth and Marcos Ambrose fifth.

Only two of the final 12 Chase spots remained unresolved when the green flag dropped. Greg Biffle essentially needed only to start to earn one of them.

Clint Bowyer couldn’t be overtaken for the final Chase berth if he finished 29th or better. He did much better, finishing sixth to dash the Chase hopes of Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin.

This year’s Chase field in order of seeding is Hamlin, Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Bowyer. Hamlin, who defended his fall race victory here from the 14th starting position, said the victory gives him confidence of dethroning Johnson as the champion.

“Never in the course of my career did I feel I could just win at any track until this year,” Hamlin said. “At this point the confidence level is pretty high.”

Hamlin steadily drove his FedEx Office Toyota through the pack during the first 100 laps, which pole winner Edwards dominated by leading 95.

Hamlin passed Bowyer for the lead for the first time on Lap 111, the first of five times they would trade the lead during an 89-lap span.

Hamlin trailed only of the final 185 green-flag laps, but Busch attempted to pass him several times late in the race. Hamlin, who was best on the long runs, benefited from the lack of cautions — only three for 28 laps — pulled away from his teammate on the final 10 laps.

“I felt the [No.] 11 [Hamlin] was always a step ahead of us,” said Busch, who won the spring Cup race here. “He deserved to win.

Gibbs will put two cars into the Chase, the same as Hendrick (Johnson and Gordon), but one fewer than Roush (Edwards, Kenseth and Biffle) and Childress (Harvick, Burton and Bowyer).

mobrien@dailypress.com