Kyle Busch Rattles Richmond

Thanks to a bogus debris caution with just twelve laps left, Kyle Busch rolled to the win in Richmond Saturday night. Tony Stewart held a commanding lead on the three-quarter mile track when NASCAR decided to throw the yellow for "debris". Stewart said the "debris" was just a plastic water bottle on the track's apron (a fairly common occurrence). Other sources reported it was actually a beer can. Either way, it was never shown on TV, and drivers and fans alike are upset with the call.

CHECKERED FLAG

Kyle Busch gets his first victory of the year in the Capitol City 400 under the lights. Everybody pitted under the last caution with 12 laps to go. Busch's crew changed four tires and got their driver out in front of the field. Stewart spun his tires on the restart with nine laps left, and Busch jumped away. he wasn't seriously challenged from that point on.

GREEN FLAGS

Dale Earnhardt Jr was second, while his HMS teammates, Kasey Kahne (5th) and Jimmie Johnson had strong runs. The winner's JGR teammate, Denny Hamlin came home 4th. MWR's Clint Bowyer (7th) and Mark Martin (8th) continued their surprising season.

YELLOW FLAG

NASCAR is catching lots of well deserved criticism over the phantom yellow flag at the end of the race. After a few action free races in a row, NASCAR decided to manufacture some end of the race excitement in Richmond. Certainly not the first time, and probably not the last time.

RED FLAG

Stewart blamed his pit crew and the NASCAR officials for losing a race that he had in the bag. However, he did restart on the front row with just a handful of laps to go. He alone spun the tires and bogged down when the green flag flew.

BLACK FLAG

Carl Edwards was black flagged on the next to last restart which came on lap 319. NASCAR said he took off before crossing the restart line, and he did. But, the other car on the front row of that restart, Stewart's, was spinning the tires even farther from that line. Plenty of times a race leader will start before reaching the restart line. I've seen it called twice, and the other time was about 15 years ago.