Richmond Crown Royal 400 - Race results

Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing team mate Denny Hamlin stormed to the front of the field during an opening green flag stint of 107 laps, and from then on put in a cagey performance that included Busch leading for a remarkable 235 of the 400 laps before requiring careful fuel conservation to get them to the end of an 86 lap green flag finish to the race.

Kyle even managed to run out of gas during his traditional post race burn-outs. "We were late to the celebration," admitted Busch after having to get a push into victory lane. By contrast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was unable to stretch his fuel and needed a late stop that dropped him two laps off the lead and down to 19th place by the chequered flag.

The midsection of the race was marked by Martin Truex Jr. taking the lead and then a series of cautions, the first of which was triggered by Jimmie Johnson spinning Joey Logano on lap 256. Jeff Gordon retired after heavy impact with the wall on lap 300 and Juan Montoya and Ryan Newman were given an official warning after engaging in an ongoing series of incidents and retaliations.

Busch, who turns 26 on Monday, has now won the Crown Royal Presents 400 at Richmond three years in a row, and becomes only the second driver (alongside Kevin Harvick) to win more than one race so far in 2011. It's Kyle's 21st Sprint Cup series victory in total, and Joe Gibbs Racing's 90th; and Busch's number of laps led so far this year (719) is over twice that of any of his rivals. The win also helps boost him back up to third in the championship, after a difficult outing at Talladega saw him involved in a crash that had resulted in him slumping to sixth in the points.

Race results

1. #18 Kyle Busch Toyota 400 laps 3:08:55.000s (48/5 pts)
2. #11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 400 laps + 1.805s (43/1 pts)
3. #4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 400 laps + 11.066s (42/1 pts)
4. #6 David Ragan Ford 400 laps + 11.371s (40/0 pts)
5. #99 Carl Edwards Ford 400 laps + 16.379s (40/1 pts)
6. #33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 400 laps + 19.716s (39/1 pts)
7. #43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 400 laps + 21.771s (37/0 pts)
8. #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 400 laps + 22.715s (36/0 pts)
9. #14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 400 laps + 23.416s (35/0 pts)
10. #83 Brian Vickers Toyota 399 laps + 1 lap (34/0 pts)
11. #20 Joey Logano Toyota 399 laps + 1 lap (33/0 pts)
12. #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 399 laps + 1 lap (32/0 pts)
13. #36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 399 laps + 1 lap (31/0 pts)
14. #5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 399 laps + 1 lap (30/0 pts)
15. #16 Greg Biffle Ford 399 laps + 1 lap (29/0 pts)
16. #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 399 laps + 1 lap (29/1 pts)
17. #78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 399 laps + 1 lap (27/0 pts)
18. #1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 399 laps + 1 lap (26/0 pts)
19. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 398 laps + 2 laps (25/0 pts)
20. #39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 398 laps + 2 laps (24/0 pts)
21. #17 Matt Kenseth Ford 398 laps + 2 laps (24/1 pts)
22. #22 Kurt Busch Dodge 397 laps + 3 laps (22/0 pts)
23. #9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 397 laps + 3 laps (21/0 pts)
24. #47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 397 laps + 3 laps (20/0 pts)
25. #34 David Gilliland Ford 397 laps + 3 laps (19/0 pts)
26. #71 Andy Lally * Ford 397 laps + 3 laps (18/0 pts)
27. #56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 397 laps + 3 laps (18/1 pts)
28. #13 Casey Mears Toyota 396 laps + 4 laps (16/0 pts)
29. #42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 395 laps + 5 laps (16/1 pts)
30. #38 Travis Kvapil Ford 395 laps + 5 laps (0pts)
31. #00 David Reutimann Toyota 395 laps + 5 laps (13/0 pts)
32. #32 Ken Schrader Ford 394 laps + 6 laps (12/0 pts)
33. #37 Tony Raines Ford 393 laps + 7 laps (11/0 pts)
34. #30 David Stremme Chevrolet 393 laps + 7 laps (10/0 pts)
35. #7 Robby Gordon Dodge 393 laps + 7 laps (9/0 pts)
36. #2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 388 laps + 12 laps (8/0 pts)
37. #27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 385 laps + 15 laps (7/0 pts)
38. #09 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 360 laps + 40 laps (0pts)
39. #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 300 laps Accident (6/1 pts)
40. #66 Michael McDowell Toyota 134 laps Electrical (4/0 pts)
41. #60 Mike Skinner Toyota 61 laps Rear Gear (0pts)
42. #87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 40 laps Brakes (0pts)
43. #46 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 38 laps Electrical (1/0 pts)