Denny Hamlin survived a wild race at Talladega to win the Aaron’s 499 on Sunday afternoon.
Hamlin led only 12 laps on his way to victory, and
he had to hold off a hard charge from Greg Biffle in the closing laps.
Hamlin and Kevin Harvick raced hard over the final
laps, but a caution came out to set up a green-white-checkered finish. The leaders were unsure if they would have
enough fuel to make it to the end, but a caution on the final lap froze the
field and gave Hamlin the victory.
 |
| Photo courtesy NASCAR via Getty Images |
“I was going to try to get him going through the
trioval and I was backing up on the backstretch to get a run at him,” said
second-place finisher Biffle, who also led a race-high 58 laps. “I could have been beside him for sure had I
taken the chance, but I didn’t know there was a big bumper laying on the track.”
Hamlin’s first victory of the season gives him a
birth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup after missing last year’s Chase. But Hamlin said he was just focused on
getting the victory and not what it means for his Chase hopes.
“We really just want to win races, regardless of
what implications this means for the Chase,” Hamlin said. “Just strategically saw things were getting
heavy there in the middle of the race, and just played our cards right. Proud of our day today.”
Hamlin’s victory was also his second top 5 at a
restrictor-plate track this season after he finished second in the
season-opening Daytona 500, which led some to wonder whether Hamlin was now a
restrictor-plate guy.
“I’m still a short track guy, but we’ve come a long
way. We now have the knowledge and car
to win [on superspeedways].”
Rookie Brian Scott won the pole for the Aaron’s 499,
but he lost the lead to Paul Menard when the green flag came out.
The first caution of the day came out on lap
14. Brad Keselowski cut down in front of
Danica Patrick for the lead, and spun across the infield. He came back up on the track, but was able to
avoid the entire field. Keselowski
damaged the front of his car, and he fell six laps down.
Hamlin took the lead on lap 26 for the first time,
but he and Joey Logano swapped the lead for a few laps before Carl Edwards took
the lead on lap 36.
Over the next 100 laps, there were only two cautions
for debris, but that was just the calm before the storm.
On lap 137, Keselowski got loose and spun in front
of the field. The wreck collected nine
other drivers, including Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie
Johnson.
After a lengthy clean-up, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took
the lead when the race restarted on lap 144.
David Gilliland’s engine expired on lap 151 to bring
out the caution again, and Harvick, Vickers and Hamlin all traded the lead when
the race resumed on lap 157.
The second “Big One” of the day came out on lap 175. Johnson made contact with Ricky Stenhouse
Jr., and the wreck collected Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, David Ragan, Michael
McDowell and Austin Dillon.
The race restarted with just eight laps remaining,
but Edwards cut down a left-rear tire and brought out the caution to set up a
green-white-checkered finish.
The race restarted with two laps to go, and Hamlin
was able to get ahead of Harvick for the lead.
Coming to the white flag, Justin Allgaier spun through the trioval, but
there was no caution. It wasn’t until a
half-lap later that NASCAR officials noticed a piece of Allgaier’s bumper lying
on the track, and they quickly called the caution to end the race and give
Hamlin the victory in his 300th career Sprint Cup Series start.
Here are the unofficial results:
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Greg Biffle
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Brian Vickers
5. AJ Allmendinger
6. Paul Menard
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Kasey Kahne
9. Kyle Larson
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11. Landon Cassill
12. Kyle Busch
13. Aric Almirola
14. Casey Mears
15. Austin Dillon
16. Michael Annett
17. Martin Truex Jr.
18. Ryan Newman
19. Marcos Ambrose
20. Josh Wise
21. Cole Whitt
22. Danica Patrick
23. Jimmie Johnson
24. Terry Labonte
25. Michael Waltrip
26. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
27. Justin Allgaier
28. Alex Bowman
29. Jamie McMurray
30. Carl Edwards
31. Ryan Truex
32. Joey Logano
33. Kurt Busch
34. Reed Sorenson
35. David Ragan
36. Michael McDowell
37. Matt Kenseth
38. Brad Keselowski
39. Jeff Gordon
40. David Gilliland
41. Trevor Bayne
42. Brian Scott
43. Tony Stewart
Next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Kansas
Speedway for the first night race in the track’s history. The 5-Hour Energy 400 benefiting Special
Operations Warrior Foundation can be seen next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST, only
on FOX.
 |
| Photo courtesy NASCAR via Getty Images |
No comments:
Post a Comment