With the final 100 laps approaching it appeared as if Hamlin may finally have been rattled as he made slight contact with the lapped car of Sam Hornish Jr, allowing Busch and new third place man Earnhardt Jr to close to within a second of the leader as they fought through traffic. The top three remained close as the final round of stops approached and when Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears got together coming off turn four it allowed the leaders to make their final stops under the caution.
The green flag waved on lap 361 but the racing would last just nine laps before Jamie McMurray crashed, leaving 30 laps on the board when racing resumed. Earnhardt Jr managed to get around Busch for second but as they battled Hamlin pulled away. But on lap 380 Hamlin suddenly slowed as his right front tyre began to deflate. Earnhardt Jr and Busch closed in, taking the lead away from Hamlin in a stunning three wide move in turn two with Earnhardt Jr taking both Gibbs cars on the outside line.
After leading 381 laps Hamlin could do nothing as he slipped down the order before finally the tyre blew on lap 390 to bring out the caution flag again. Even worse was to follow for Hamlin, who was held on pit road for two laps after NASCAR decided that he deliberately drew a yellow flag to help his teammate.
Earnhardt Jr brought the field to the green again with five laps to go and Busch directly on his rear bumper. For two laps they battled side by side with Earnhardt Jr on the high side and the crowd going crazy, hoping Earnhardt Jr's two-year winless streak was about to come to an end. However going into turn three on lap 398 Busch drifted up the track and into the #88 Chevrolet, which promptly spun backwards into the outside wall. In the confusion Clint Bowyer, who had been observing the battle from a safe distance in third, slipped underneath Busch to take the lead.
To say the 106,000 fans that lined the circuit were unhappy with the outcome of the Earnhardt Jr/ Busch scrap would be an understatement and as Bowyer led Busch to the green-white-chequered flag restart the boos and jeers from the grandstands were very audible even over the sound of the engines.
Busch spun his tyres on the final restart, which allowed Bowyer to escape and Martin to attack him for second. Bowyer reeled off the final two laps unchallenged to take a surprise second career Cup Series win, a win he was clearly somewhat stunned to have been gifted. Busch and Martin raced side by side to the line with Busch just edging Martin for second and then apologising to Earnhardt Jr for wrecking him. However it may be some time before the driver of the #18 Toyota receives so much as a single cheer from any Earnhardt Jr fan at any track in the country and the driver nicknamed 'wild thing' certainly left Richmond under a major cloud.
Third place for Martin was reward for a highly competitive evening while Tony Stewart came through to take fourth place after once again spending much of the night as the poorest relation in the Joe Gibbs camp. Martin Truex Jr, like his DEI teammate, ran consistently in the top half dozen all evening and came away from Richmond with a fifth place result with Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne rounding out the top ten.
Erstwhile points leader Jeff Burton recovered from his part in the big turn three crash to take eleventh place but saw his points lead disappear as Busch moved to the head of the title chase by 18 points.
Earnhardt Jr managed to stay on the lead lap for a disconsolate 15th place finish while Hamlin was even more gutted with 24th place. Defending series champ Johnson lost half a dozen laps getting repairs to his car and finished 30th while Matt Kenseth's season continues to go from bad to worse with a 38th place finish, more than 50 laps behind Bowyer.
The teams now have just one week to lick their wounds before they head to another track that is sure to see metal bent and tempers frayed, the infamous Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
