Hamlin takes overtime race in Richmond

Denny Hamlin wins the Federated Auto Parts 400 at his home track, Richmond International Raceway in overtime, securing him the third seed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

DiBenedetto, Mears vent frustrations on track

Casey Mears and Matt DiBenedetto trade paint leading to Mears spinning off the front bumper of DiBenedetto as the laps wind down at Richmond International Raceway.

Drivers make four-wide salute to thank fans

Drivers go four-wide during pace laps at Richmond International Raceway as a salute to the fans during NASCAR's Fan Appreciation Weekend.

NBCSN’s coverage of Richmond begins at 5 p.m. ET; Dale Jr. interview featured

NBCSN is your home for tonight’s Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET with an expanded NASCAR America.

Countdown to Green airs at 7 p.m. Race coverage begins at 7:30 p.m.

NASCAR America will have an expanded version of Steve Letarte’s exclusive interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Krista Voda hosts the coverage before the race and is joined by analysts Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty.

Race coverage features Rick Allen in the booth with Jeff Burton and Letarte. On pit road is Dave Burns, Marty Snider, Mike Massaro and Kelli Stavast.

After the race, stay with NBCSN for additional coverage.

If you’re not near a TV, you can watch online or on the NBC Sports app at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports.

If you plan to stream the coverage on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.

Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.

Austin Dillon on national anthem protest: ‘I don’t know how it would go over with the fans’

While protests around the national anthem continue in sports like the NFL and Major League Soccer, the patriotism shown in NASCAR remains strong.

The controversy started late last month when Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers was seen sitting on the bench during a pre-season game as the national anthem played. Some players have since followed suit by taking a knee as the anthem played before their games. U.S soccer star Megan Rapinoe also took a knee before a game last week.

There has not been a protest in NASCAR during its weekly pre-race routine of honoring the American flag and playing of the national anthem. NASCAR televises its pre-race ceremonies and those who aren’t being respectful rarely go unnoticed, which is why Austin Dillon isn’t sure what the reaction would be if there were a protest.

“I don’t know how it would go over with the fans – we’re a very patriotic sport,” Dillon said. “I think our sport does a good job of showing that every Saturday, Sunday of showing patriotism and what the flag means. Not only that, we have a lot of military out here each and every weekend.”

Kaepernick’s actions drew the ire of a few drivers. They included three-time champion Tony Stewart, which resulted in a strongly worded tweet and a demonstration of his patriotism last weekend at Darlington Raceway. Stewart stood alongside his No. 14 Chevrolet holding an American flag with his team.

Stewart’s actions weren’t necessarily out of place as there have been many examples throughout the years of the sport’s wide-ranging patriotism.

Every May, an elaborate pre-race ceremony is put on at Charlotte Motor Speedway in recognition of Memorial Day. Brad Keselowski celebrates each race win with the American flag. Fans also bring flags to wave in the grandstands or fly from their campsites.

Following the 2001 Sept. 11 attacks, teams included decals on their cars, either of American flags or other tributes to the victims. Mars and M&M’s gave up their logos on the No. 36 for Ken Schrader’s car to be painted like the American flag.

They did the same again in 2011 at Richmond with driver Kyle Busch in honor of the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Saturday night, on the eve of the 15th anniversary, all four Stewart-Haas Racing cars will carry decals in remembrance of the victims. Dillon will again stand by his car as the ceremonies take place.

“I’m close friends with a lot of SEAL guys that I check on that are still in battle, like still going out and putting their lives on the line, so I get to do what I do on Sunday and have this amazing job,” Dillon said.

“I’ve got SEAL guys that will personally text me and say, ‘Hey, thank you for not moving around; sitting there, we love that.’ When they see people that are not paying attention during our national anthem or kind of off looking around in the right place, it means a lot to them just to stand at attention. I wouldn’t want to ask a guy that puts his life on the line for our freedom to have to see that.”

Dillon understands his attitude may not be shared throughout the garage, but so far the pride shown in the NASCAR community hasn’t wavered since the controversy began.

“I think this is the greatest country in the world,” Dillon said. “I’ve traveled to other countries, and I’m glad to get home every time to America.”

Results from the Xfinity Series race at Richmond

Kyle Busch took the lead on Lap 51 and never looked back Friday night at Richmond en route to his eighth Xfinity win of the season.

It was the 84th win of Busch’s career and his sixth at Richmond.

Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Erik Jones, finished second followed by Brad Keselowski, Elliott Sadler, and Justin Allgaier.

Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, and Brennan Poole rounded out the top 10.

Results:

Pit stall assignments for Richmond

Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin will have the pit stall closest to pit exit for tonight’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Jimmie Johnson will have the first pit stall near pit entrance.

Drivers with either an opening before or after their stall are Hamlin, Trevor Bayne, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray, and Johnson.

The numbers in the boxes represent the car number. The number below the box represents the pit stall.