Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick is out front after 105 of the 400 laps in tonight's event at the Richmond International Raceway. Harvick leads Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Clint Bowyer. Bowyer, who spun while racing David Reutimann for fourth place on lap eight and triggered a major accident in the process, has driven back through the field despite missing sheetmetal behind the left-front tire of his Chevrolet.
Bowyer has to win tonight's race to have a shot at overtaking Denny Hamlin - who was also involved in the accident - for the final Chase wild card spot. Despite significant damage to his Toyota, Hamlin runs 15th and has been on the move through the field.
Also on the move - in the wrong direction - is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt struck both Hamlin and Bowyer in the multi-car wreck and has struggled since. He is currently shown 30th, a lap down, while Brad Keselowski - who could displace Earnhardt and move into the top-10 in points - runs 19th.
Perhaps the most interesting moment of the race has been an incident on lap 52 that saw Marcos Ambrose bump Brian Vickers entering the third turn. Vickers' slid into his Red Bull Racing teammate Kasey Kahne, sending both cars hard into the outside wall. Vickers chased Ambrose back around the track and hung a hard right into the left-front corner of Ambrose's car, then proceeded to block him for several moments from pulling away. NASCAR subsequently parked Vickers for an undetermined amount of time, though his Toyota was already badly damaged in the incident.