Checkered Countdown: Top-Five Richmond Finishes

No.4 With Ryan Newman leading Clint Bowyer spins changing the almost written results of race and chase standings (2013).

How could this race be not included in the top-five list? It was Richmond where the famous race that put Clint Bowyer in the eye of the storm was held. With four to go Ryan Newman had just gone by the leader Carl Edwards after an amazing comeback. Had he won he would have obtained the final transfer spot for the Chase by knocking out Bowyer’s teammate Martin Truex Jr. But then the caution came out again for Bowyer spinning out in turn four. The spin did not exactly look unavoidable even if the Michael Waltrip Racing driver always said that it was not intentional. What we know for sure is that after the following restart Newman was never able to get back to the lead and lost his Chase spot. He would later regain it when NASCAR docked Truex 50 driver points excluding him from the Chase while Bowyer who also got this penalty still had enough to make it in the final 12. By the way, Edwards won that race.