Richmond winners and losers

A look at the winners and losers following Sunday’s race at Richmond Raceway…

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin was in desperate need of a clean race Sunday. After six weeks of mediocre finishes — or worse — Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart executed the perfect strategy to win at Richmond, collecting Hamlin’s first top-10 finish of the year. Until Sunday, the No. 11 team’s best finish had been 13th at Phoenix Raceway, one of only two top 15s. It was a dismal start for Hamlin, who has gone to the Championship 4 round of the playoffs in three of the last four seasons. One week doesn’t erase those poor finishes but winning provides optimism in the short term.

Kevin Harvick: Harvick hasn’t had any flashy moments through the first quarter of the regular season, but a second-place finish is a wonderful result for the No. 4 team. The result is Harvick’s first top five of the season and first since finishing third at Kansas in October 2021. The 2014 champion is in the midst of a 50-race winless streak, and Richmond marks his fourth runner-up since last winning at Bristol in September 2020. At Richmond, he and crew chief Rodney Childers capitalized on excellent execution, following a near-identical strategy as Hamlin but pitted one lap sooner. Now the team seeks to build on its positive momentum.

Kyle Larson: Crazy as it may sound for someone who won 10 races and a title last year, Larson needed a good run Sunday and got one. His fifth-place finish snapped a streak of three straight finishes of 29th or worse, including two crashes (Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas) and one engine failure (Phoenix). Larson has led just three laps since finishing runner-up at Las Vegas on March 6, but he turned in his first top-five finish at Richmond since