Dale Jr wins at Richmond

This was Earnhardt's second win at the 0.750-mile track and his third of the season, shaping up to be his best.

Stewart had taken the lead on Lap 257 after a 15-lap struggle with Michael Waltrip. He re-emerged the leader after the front-runners cycled through their last planned stops, under green between Lap 278 and 324. He quickly built a 3.5sec lead over Earnhardt, with Bobby Labonte third, Jimmie Johnson fourth and Matt Kenseth fifth.

Caution came out, however, on Lap 344 after Scott Riggs's engine flamed out. With only 12 on the lead lap, Stewart and most others pitted for tyres. Earnhardt, Johnson and Jeff Gordon chose to stay on the track and took over the first three positions.

Stewart, attempting to catch back up, put a move on Gordon on Lap 365, but both cars slipped high and Labonte sneaked through on the low side to third. Labonte then caught Johnson with 10 laps to go but was unable to make a clean move and settled for third.

Junior, meanwhile, built a 3sec lead over Johnson with 15 laps to go, then coasted to the finish, winning by 1.481sec. Stewart managed fourth place and Kenseth fifth.

Earnhardt increased his points lead slightly, to 40 over Johnson. Gordon is third, Kenseth fourth and Stewart fifth.