The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visited Richmond International Speedway for the final race before the Chase for the Sprint Cup hets underway. There were four spots in the Chase left up for grabs at the race start.

Right from the start, it was clear that it was going to be tough to catch the Joe Gibbs Racing group, especially Matt Kenseth, who led 352 laps en route to getting the win. The win was important for him because the bonus points given in the Chase for regular season wins, and this ties him for first with Jimmie Johnson and teammate Kyle Busch, who finished second.

Martin Truex Jr. had a rough start as he hit some oil on the track, then hit the No. 98 car which spun him into the wall to bring out the first caution of the race. Kenseth led the field back to green 10 laps later, and simply dominated. He was leading at Lap d98 when the second caution came out for debris in turn one. Kenseth pitted, and the lead was taken over by his teammate Joey Logano. When the field went back to green, Kenseth took almost no time to get back to the front and pass Logano for the lead.

The caution came out just eight laps later when Michael Annett spun out on the back stretch. Again, Logano restarted the race with the lead, but was passed quickly by Kenseth. The only car to lead a lap in the race that was not fielded by Gibbs was Logano, who led a total of 25 laps during before finishing third. Kenseth went on to lead the final 102 laps to run away with his fourth win of the season.

Jeff Gordon, who is planning on retiring after the season, was able to make the Chase with his seventh place finish. Teammate Kasey Kahne, however, was unable to make the Chase, missing out by a margin of 33 points. Clint Bowyer, driver for Michael Waltrip Racing which will fold at the end of the season, was able to get into the Chase as well.

Entering the Chase, the top three seeds are Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth. Rounding out the Chase field is Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, and Paul Menard.

The Chase will begin next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

Stevie Larson is a writer for the VAVEL USA NASCAR section. Follow him on Twitter at @littletwinsfan.