Denny Hamlin fulfilled a dream last night at Richmond International Raceway.

The former Chesterfield resident charged from behind to win the Nationwide Series Lipton Tea 250 during a fast and furious green-white checkered finish.

Hamlin spent most of the race lagging behind Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. But he took the lead on Lap 242 and held on over the last 12 laps to finish ahead of Harvick and third-place Kyle Busch, who rallied from a lap down.

"This is my biggest win by far," Hamlin said. "It means a lot to finally break through in Richmond."

Hamlin, who earlier won the pole for tonight's Dan Lowry 400, caught a break when Ryan Hackett spun out near the start-finish line on Lap 235.

Harvick had positioned himself to win for the first time this season by outdueling Edwards over a 96-lap stretch. He figured it was worth the gamble to stay on the racetrack as Hamlin took on fresh tires.

It was a bad toss of the dice for Harvick.

"I don't know what the right decision is," Harvick said. "You're damned if you do and damned if you don't."

"We were going to take our chances and stick with it," said Harvick's crew chief Wally Rogers.

Hamlin quickly moved in on the Lap 240 restart with Busch giving hot pursuit. By the time Harvick steered his No. 33 Chevrolet through Turn 3 on Lap 242, Hamlin's Toyota-powered 20 was overtaking him.

"We were hoping for a caution," said Hamlin's crew chief Dave Rogers. "We had a third-place car all day. We knew our only chance to steal it was to take four tires. We were hoping the leaders would stay out.

"We knew we couldn't pass [Harvick] if we didn't pit. I've been in that position before. It's hard to pass judgment because track position is so important."

Harvick, with his worn tires struggling for a firm grip on the .75-mile racetrack, didn't have enough to fight back. But as Hamlin stretched his lead to nearly two seconds, the eighth and final caution on Lap 247 gave both Harvick and Busch renewed hope.

Hamlin, though, dashed their hopes soon after the green-white restart on Lap 252. He was too strong over the last two laps. His Toyota, which struggled early, hugged the apron in the corners and had far more horsepower down the short straightaways.

Hamlin, with his crew joyously leaping on pit road, took the checkered flag .789 seconds ahead of Harvick. The Manchester High School graduate won his sixth career Nationwide event with an average speed of 96.238 mph.

David Ragan finished a distant fourth ahead of Steve Wallace, who tangled with Busch after the two crossed the start-finish line. They exchanged angry words before Wallace reached out of his car to tug on Busch's helmet.

But it was Hamlin who possessed the most grit and fight. He appeared out of it midway through the race as Edwards and Harvick were embroiled in a two-car slugfest.

"This is the greatest accomplishment of my career," Hamlin said. "We didn't have the best car, but we did when it counted. I would always think if I had what it takes to win at Richmond. I always wondered if I would get it figured out."

"I think it was just a matter of time," he added. "I knew if we kept putting ourselves in third and fourth position, we could win. Once we adjusted the car in different spots, the car was unbelievable."

Hamlin's victory was Joe Gibbs Racing's seventh in 11 Nationwide Series events this season. Hamlin is the third JGR driver to win this season. Busch and Tony Stewart each have three wins.