It was Richmond and it was Denny Hamlin,  and from that standpoint there was little surprise in the Air Guard 400 on Saturday night. After a slow start, Hamlin raced out front then held off all contenders to take his second consecutive September win at Richmond International Raceway.

  On Friday, Hamlin and his #11 FedEx crew made the decision to concentrate on race trim rather than qualification trim which resulted in a 14th place start for the Saturday night race. But it only took a few dozen laps for Denny to get his legs and start working his way up through the pack. By lap 94 Hamlin was up to 5th. On lap 105 he was in third then by lap 110 Hamlin was in his regular position at Richmond; out front and going for the win.

  Hamlin briefly traded the lead with Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer but neither driver was able to maintain their hold out front and quickly ceded to Hamlin who led 251 laps and took the win over Joe Gibbs teammate Kyle Busch.

  “It feels good, and not to be greedy but how many did we lose before we broke through?” Hamlin said. “It means a lot. You learn every time you come here little things that make you better and that’s all you can do. You can’t dwell on the times that you lost this race. You’ve got to just push forward and think about the times or what it will take to win the next one.”

  The victory was Hamlin’s 14th career win in 177 Sprint Cup races. Hamlin also became the third driver to lead 1000 laps at RIR since it was resurfaced in 1988.

  Busch, who started the race 32nd, began to take off in the final 200 laps due to information passed to his team from Hamlin’s.

  “They gave us our air pressure that we started running about mid race,” Busch said. “We really started clicking off and going forward.”

  Busch went from 14th to fourth in 80 laps then climbed up to second, giving Hamlin his greatest challenge of the night over the final 60 laps of the race.

  “Shouldn’t have told him everything during the race,” Hamlin said. “Gave me a heart attack.”

  With his sixth win of the season, Hamlin also took the 10 bonus point and the points lead heading into Chase’s final 10 races.

  “Ten more points, what the heck,” said Jeff Gordon. “I think everybody knew that Denny was going to be strong here, it’s one of his strongest tracks. They found something lately. I don’t know what it is but they found something. If they can keep that going into the Chase, they’re going to be very, very tough.

  “They’re really coming into their own, showing their strength and I think they’re going to be really, really tough in the championship,” Gordon said.

  Hamlin starts the Chase with 5060 points followed closely by Jimmie Johnson (5050), Kevin Harvick (5030), Kyle Busch (5020), Tony Stewart (5010), Greg Biffle (5010) and Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton,  Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer with 5000 points each.

  Busch’s second place finish was his 10th top 10 finish in 12 races at RIR. It was also Busch’s 14th top 10 finish this season.

  Fellow Gibbs teammate Joey Logano finished fourth giving JGR and three of the top four slots.

  Logano could probably also attribute his success in the race to Hamlin, who gave him a few instructions prior to driver introductions.

  “Joey just asked me, how do I brake at this racetrack,” Hamlin said. “He didn’t understand how every time we come here everyone’s brakes are glowing red and mine aren’t, yet it looks like I’m entering the corner better or harder. There’s a technique to it.”

  Hamlin said it also helps that Logano is a good listener. “I feel that Joey is really good at absorbing information and obviously when he gets that information he takes off with it,” Hamlin said.

  Logano started in sixth but fell back to 17th 100 laps in. But it appeared that he soon figured out what Hamlin was talking about. With 150 laps to go Logano began quickly making his way up through the field. By lap 320 he was in fifth then edged past Bowyer and Marcos Ambrose in the final 20 laps to finish fourth.

  “It’s just a matter of time before he’s as competitive as what Kyle Busch is week-in, week-out, and that’s just going to make both teams that much stronger,” Hamlin said.

There was no question that team owner J.D. Gibbs was pleased with the performance of his drivers. “I think Denny and Kyle, as well, and to watch Joey, all three in one night hopefully get some momentum built up for the Chase, was a big deal for Joe Gibbs Racing, and we love coming back to Richmond as well.”