Kyle Busch’s fuel gamble pays off

RICHMOND, Va. -- If Denny Hamlin could change one thing, he maybe wouldn't have been so forthcoming about Richmond International Raceway in all those Joe Gibbs Racing team meetings.

But holding out information about his home track would make Hamlin a bad teammate, so he shared everything he knew. Then Kyle Busch used those tips to beat his teammate Saturday night at Richmond, denying Hamlin a weekend sweep at his home track.

"I learned from Denny last fall, and I'm not going to say what I learned," Busch said after stretching his final tank of gas 107 laps to pick up his second win of the Sprint Cup season.

It was Busch's third consecutive win in Richmond's spring race. Hamlin has won the past two fall races, and the last non-JGR driver to win at Richmond was Jimmie Johnson in September 2008.

So it was no surprise to see Busch and Hamlin finish first and second for a JGR sweep Saturday night. Hamlin just wished it had been him out front.

"It's tough when you share notebooks. You know those guys got exactly what you got," Hamlin said. "Just got beat by my teammate. He drove a great race. I thought he would burn his stuff up. Our cars were dead equal."

Hamlin, in an early-season slump, needed the strong finish to snap the funk that has had many wondering if last year's championship runner-up will challenge for the title again. He got off to a great start by winning his charity race Thursday at RIR and followed it with a victory in Friday's Nationwide Series race.

And while Hamlin sat back in the closing laps, waiting to pounce should Busch's tank run dry, he never regretted giving Busch the information that ultimately beat Hamlin.

"If I don't tell him the things I know on short tracks, the crew chiefs don't relay information, it's not a good team," he said. "Yeah, it might cost me a race here or there. In the grand scheme of things, it makes me an overall better driver."

Kasey Kahne, fresh off surgery to repair a torn knee ligament, finished a season-best third to give Toyota the top three spots.

"We weren't quite good enough as the Gibbs cars; they were really good tonight," Kahne said. "The guys did a good job, and it's nice to get a top-five."

The leaders seemed to have an easy go of it, with most of the fireworks coming far behind them in the field.

Roush Fenway Racing drivers David Ragan and Carl Edwards finished fourth and fifth in Fords, and Clint Bowyer was sixth in a Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger was seventh and was followed by Johnson, Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers.

Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya were involved in two on-track incidents. The first caused Montoya, the pole-sitter, to brush the wall. His stop to repair the damage dropped him three laps off the pace. He later ran into the back of Newman when Newman was running eighth, and Newman vowed his payback would come after the race.

There was no confrontation, though. Montoya hopped on a waiting golf cart and headed out of the track, while Newman walked to the NASCAR hauler to complain about Montoya's driving.

Meanwhile, Kurt Busch lost his composure on his team radio several times during the race. Frustrated by an ill-handling car, he was pushed over the edge when he ran into Newman seconds after contact between Newman and Montoya brought out the caution. He finished 22nd.

And Martin Truex Jr., in position for a top-five finish, threatened over his team radio to fire his entire crew when he was penalized twice on his final pit stop.

■ NHRA -- At Baytown, Texas, John Force moved within one of NHRA Pro Stock great Warren Johnson's No. 1 qualifying record by racing to his third consecutive top spot at the NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway.

Force earned the 137th No. 1 of his Funny Car career with his Friday pass of 4.097 seconds at a top speed of 310.27 mph. Warmer weather conditions prevented the majority of racers in all categories from improving their performances during Saturday's two sessions.

The other three top qualifiers from Friday also held on to their spots, as Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Ronnie Humphrey (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) will lead their categories into today's eliminations.

■ INDYCAR -- At Sao Paulo, Brazil, Will Power of Australia improved to 4-for-4 in IndyCar poles this season after earning the 200th for Team Penske at the Sao Paulo 300.

Power, winner of the inaugural Sao Paulo race last year, will start at the front after clocking 1 minute, 21.896 seconds on the 2.5-mile, 11-turn Anhembi temporary street circuit.

American Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport was 0.402 behind and will start second. Hunter-Reay was runner-up to Power in last year's race in Brazil and in qualifying two weeks ago in Long Beach, Calif.