Hamlin Wins at Richmond Amid Differing Strategies

Denny Hamlin won the Toyota Owners 400 from Richmond Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win of the season.

With the race winding down, the leaders utilized different pit strategies. William Byron led and tried to stay ahead of Martin Truex Jr. as they navigated lapped traffic, while the duo of Hamlin and Kevin Harvick quickly made their way to the front.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

With Byron and Truex on older tires, Hamlin took the lead with four laps to go and was able to hold off Harvick over the final laps.

Hamlin said his team had the perfect strategy on the final pit stop.

“So proud of this FedEx team, just never giving up,” Hamlin said.  “Great strategy there; drove as hard as I could. They got the car right there towards the end.”

Hamlin has had a slow start to the season, and didn’t have a Top 10 in the first six races of the season.

Hamlin said he had hoped to have a solid run to find out where their cars stacked up.

“Before the race, we needed a data point,” Hamlin said.  “A good run to balance ourselves on other tracks, and obviously I think we got it here.”

Harvick followed Hamlin past Truex and Byron, but couldn’t get close enough to make a move for the win.

Harvick said he was happy to have a strong result after they’ve brought fast cars to the track every week.

“It’s really the first clean day we’ve had all year,” Harvick said.  “Cars have been fast…just really proud of everyone on our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for staying in there.”

“I wanted to be close enough at the white to take a swipe at him, but the lapped cars there kind of got in the way and I lost a little bit of ground. Hopefully a little momentum in a positive direction.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kevin Harvick

3. William Byron

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Kyle Larson

6. Christopher Bell

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Alex Bowman

9. Kyle Busch

10. Austin Dillon

11. Chase Briscoe

12. Tyler Reddick

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Chase Elliott

15. Chris Buescher

16. Daniel Suarez

17. Joey Logano

18. Harrison Burton

19. Ross Chastain

20. Austin Cindric

21. Aric Almirola

22. Cole Custer

23. Erik Jones

24. Ty Dillon

25. Todd Gilliland

26. Bubba Wallace

27. AJ Allmendinger

28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

29. Justin Haley

30. Michael McDowell

31. Corey LaJoie

32. Landon Cassill

33. JJ Yeley

34. BJ McLeod

35. Kurt Busch

36. Cody Ware

37. Greg Biffle

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Hamlin Holds off Elliott at Las Vegas

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night to lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Hamlin was strong throughout the race and ran up front for most of the night.  After a different strategy call by the Hendrick Motorsports drivers towards the end of stage 2, Hamlin was able to take command and pick up his second win of the season.

Hamlin said he was glad to get to victory lane in Las Vegas after running well there the last few races at the track.

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

“It feels so good to win at Vegas,” Hamlin said.  “Last couple times I’ve been so close and just didn’t have the right breaks.”

The victory locked Hamlin into the third round of the Playoffs, which will allow him to avoid the stress of fighting for a Playoff spot at Talladega and the Charlotte Roval.

Hamlin said he is ready to fight for victories the next two weeks without the added stress of racing for his Playoff future.

“So happy I don’t have to worry about the next two weeks,” Hamlin said.  “I’m going to work just as hard each and every week to win.”

Chase Elliott was the lone Hendrick driver who was able to overcome the pit strategy call.  He was able to run Hamlin down over the final green flag run, but he ran out of time and was never able to challenge Hamlin for the lead.

Elliott said the race played out more in his favor than for his teammates.

“Circumstances went our way,” Elliott said.  “We were able to get back on the lead lap when that cycle of stops got weird there in the middle.  We got back on the lead and didn’t need to wave or get the lucky dog.”

“We were really close, just not close enough; Denny did a good job controlling the gap to me.  Excited for the next two, it’s going to be wild.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Chase Elliott

3. Kyle Busch

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Kurt Busch

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Kyle Larson

11. Joey Logano

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Austin Dillon

14. Chase Briscoe

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. William Byron

19. Aric Almirola

20. Ryan Newman

21. Michael McDowell

22. Alex Bowman

23. Ross Chastain

24. Christopher Bell

25. Chris Buescher

26. Erik Jones

27. Anthony Alfredo

28. Ryan Preece

29. Cole Custer

30. Corey LaJoie

31. Cody Ware

32. Justin Haley

33. BJ McLeod

34. Quin Houff

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Joey Gase

38. JJ Yeley

Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Truex Holds off Hamlin to Win at Richmond

Martin Truex Jr. won the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond Raceway on Saturday night to lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Truex overtook his teammate Denny Hamlin during the final pit cycle and was ahead by over eight seconds with 50 laps to go.  After Truex’s tires began to wear out, Hamlin was able to cut the lead down to just two seconds but ran out of laps at the end of the race.

Truex started the race on the front row, but NASCAR penalized him for jumping the start.  The penalty put Truex in a hole early in the race, but he said he knew his car was fast enough to overcome the early penalty.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“That was frustrating,” Truex said.  “It felt pretty good those first couple laps; I knew we’d have a good enough car to overcome it.”

The victory was Truex’s first since he won at Darlington in May, and Truex said the Joe Gibbs Racing cars are picking up at the right time.

“It’s been awhile,” Truex said.  “We talked last week about how much speed we’ve had in these things.  Very happy to get to do this and go to Bristol without any worries next week.”

Hamlin began the Playoffs last week with a victory, and he followed it up at Richmond with a strong run.

Hamlin said he was hoping to go back-to-back coming into the weekend.

“Just needed a couple more laps,” Hamlin said.  “I really wish we got two in a row…a great day for our team.  It’s go-time now.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Christopher Bell

4. Chase Elliott

5. Joey Logano

6. Kyle Larson

7. Ross Chastain

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Kyle Busch

10. Ryan Blaney

11. Austin Dillon

12. Alex Bowman

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Aric Almirola

15. Tyler Reddick

16. Chase Briscoe

17. Daniel Suarez

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. William Byron

20. Ryan Newman

21. Erik Jones

22. Cole Custer

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Chris Buescher

25. Ryan Preece

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Justin Haley

28. Michael McDowell

29. Corey LaJoie

30. BJ McLeod

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Bubba Wallace

33. Joey Gase

34. JJ Yeley

35. Quin Houff

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Kurt Busch

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Hamlin Breaks Winless Streak at Darlington in Playoff Opener

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night to pick up his first victory of the season.

Hamlin came into the opening race of NASCAR’s Playoffs without a win on the season, but finished second in the regular season standings.  Hamlin ran up front for most of the evening, but he was challenged by Kyle Larson throughout the second and third stages.

Hamlin was able to use pit strategy and a well-timed caution flag to take the lead in the third stage and regain control of the race.  Over the final run, Hamlin had to hold off challenges from Larson and Ross Chastain.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Hamlin said he was glad to return to victory lane at his favorite racetrack.

“I love this racetrack,” Hamlin said.  “Luckily the caution came when it did and the strategy worked out great with the team.”

Hamlin said the finish between he and Larson summed up their regular-season battle for the regular season points lead.

“It’s been kind of back-and-forth [with] me and him most of the year, he’s just been a little bit faster on these types of racetracks,” Hamlin said.  “It was a matter of time; we can’t just keep leading inside 10 laps to go every week and not get a win.”

Larson tried his best to get by Hamlin on the final lap and drove his car deep into the corner.  He was able to get to Hamlin’s bumper, but slammed the wall and couldn’t complete the pass coming out of Turn 4.

Larson said his best chance was a “video game” move coming to the checkered flag.

“We got to the white flag and I kind of thought that I hadn’t been able to gain on him, might as well try something,” Larson said.  “Honestly got to his bumper too quick.  I was hoping he would run that diamond to try and be safe and I could squirt to his outside.”

“It’s good to get a good start, I think everybody’s nervous getting ready for the final ten.  Good to get a good first weekend and build some momentum and some confidence within the team.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kyle Larson

3. Ross Chastain

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Kurt Busch

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Joey Logano

9. Chris Buescher

10. Austin Dillon

11. Cole Custer

12. Ryan Preece

13. Daniel Suarez

14. Ryan Newman

15. Corey LaJoie

16. Aric Almirola

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Tyler Reddick

19. Chase Briscoe

20. Christopher Bell

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Ryan Blaney

23. Matt DiBenedetto

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Justin Haley

26. Alex Bowman

27. BJ McLeod

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Joey Gase

30. Quin Houff

31. Chase Elliott

32. Erik Jones

33. Cody Ware

34. William Byron

35. Kyle Busch

36. James Davison

37. Michael McDowell

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Bowman Passes Hamlin Late, Wins at Richmond

Alex Bowman won the Toyota Owners 400 from Richmond Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Bowman had a fast car throughout the race, but he didn’t take the lead until a late restart with ten laps remaining.  After restarting third, Bowman got around Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to pick up his first win of the season.

Bowman said he was able to get by Hamlin due to his crew chief’s slight adjustment on the final pit stop.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“Getting to race a guy like Denny at a place like this is really cool,” Bowman said.  “We were terrible on short runs.  I don’t know if Greg Ives pumped the pressures way up or what he did, but that’s more grip than I’ve ever had in a racecar at Richmond.”

Bowman said the victory was emotional following the death of a crew member in the offseason.

“Means the world to be able to win for Ally,” Bowman said.  “Obviously emotional with how hard the offseason was on us.  Appreciative for the opportunity, and we’ve got a lot more races to win this year.”

Hamlin didn’t have enough time to chase down Bowman in the closing laps and had to settle for second.  With the dominant car on Sunday, Hamlin led a race-high 207 laps and swept both stages.

Hamlin said his team continues to roll even though they’ve been kept out of Victory Lane.

“We just didn’t take off quite as good there at the end,” Hamlin said.  “He had more grip there for a couple laps and I couldn’t hold the bottom.  Once he got position, we just got shoved out there.”

“Great job by this FedEx Ground team.  We’ll keep digging; we’re dominating, just got to finish it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Alex Bowman

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Joey Logano

4. Christopher Bell

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Aric Almirola

7. William Byron

8. Kyle Busch

9. Matt DiBenedetto

10. Austin Dillon

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Chase Elliott

13. Kurt Busch

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Ross Chastain

16. Daniel Suarez

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Kyle Larson

19. Erik Jones

20. Tyler Reddick

21. Corey LaJoie

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Cole Custer

24. Kevin Harvick

25. Chris Buescher

26. Bubba Wallace

27. Michael McDowell

28. Austin Cindric

29. Ryan Preece

30. Ryan Newman

31. Anthony Alfredo

32. BJ McLeod

33. James Davison

34. Quin Houff

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Cody Ware

37. Josh Bilicki

38. Justin Haley

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Truex Wins at Martinsville

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday to pick up his second win of the season.

Truex ran towards the front for most of the day, but his car began to come alive when the sun set.  Truex got around Denny Hamlin late in the race and was able to pull away to pick up the win.

Truex said the teammates had diverging setups at the end of the race.

James Gilbert/Getty Images

“I was loose coming off the corners and his car got tight,” Truex said.  “We kind of had opposite things going on and it made it difficult to pass.”

Truex said he struggled with his handling until the lights came on towards the end of the race.

“[Crew chief] James Small and the guys really hung with me all day,” Truex said.  “We never could quite get it the way we wanted.  It started getting dark and it came to life.”

Hamlin was dominant throughout the race, and led a race-high 276 laps before settling for a third-place finish.

After a rash of cautions throughout the third stage, Hamlin said his car didn’t have the speed over the final green flag run.

“We had a good short-run car, just did not have a good long-run car,” Hamlin said.  “We had a really fast car for 20 laps or so, and then it would just kind of go away.”

“We had a great day and stayed up front all day.  Gave ourselves a shot at it, just wasn’t quite good enough.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Chase Elliott

3. Denny Hamlin

4. William Byron

5. Kyle Larson

6. Joey Logano

7. Christopher Bell

8. Tyler Reddick

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Kyle Busch

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Chris Buescher

14. Austin Dillon

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Ross Chastain

18. Cole Custer

19. Ryan Newman

20. Aric Almirola

21. Kurt Busch

22. James Davison

23. Josh Bilicki

24. Quin Houff

25. JJ Yeley

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Chase Briscoe

28. Cody Ware

29. BJ McLeod

30. Erik Jones

31. Michael McDowell

32. Daniel Suarez

33. Brad Keselowski

34. Alex Bowman

35. Justin Haley

36. Ryan Preece

37. Corey LaJoie

 

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Logano Wins at Bristol as Cup Series Returns to Dirt

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Joey Logano won the Food City Dirt Race from the Bristol Motor Speedway on Monday afternoon.

Logano took the lead in the second stage and held on over the final stage to win the first dirt race for the Cup Series in over 50 years.

Logano said he’s put in a lot of work in the past few weeks to better prepare himself to race on dirt.

“We did a lot of work in the dirt department here the last few weeks,” Logano said.  “Just making laps and learning where I was going, and a lot of that helped.”

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Logano held off Denny Hamlin over the final stage as the two drivers fought their way through lapped traffic.  Logano pulled out ahead on the final restart when Hamlin’s car didn’t stick on the high side headed into Turn 1.

Logano said he had to change his driving style to hold Hamlin off over the final run.

“Denny and I had a heck of a race because he found grip up top,” Logano said.  “I don’t know how to do that, so I had to go up there and figure it out.  Defended the lead position and then eventually just worked the lapped cars.”

Hamlin said the track lost grip before the final restart and he couldn’t hang with Logano on the high side.

“They didn’t prep it in between cautions like they did before,” Hamlin said.  “I thought I could just…run the top in hard.  It was just marbles up there.”

“Thought I had a shot there; cut the 22 [of Logano] too many breaks there when he was cutting us off.  We’re third-best again.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Daniel Suarez

5. Ryan Newman

6. William Byron

7. Tyler Reddick

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Erik Jones

10. Chase Elliott

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Michael McDowell

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Chris Buescher

15. Kevin Harvick

16. Kurt Busch

17. Kyle Busch

18. Ryan Preece

19. Martin Truex Jr.

20. Chase Briscoe

21. Austin Dillon

22. Alex Bowman

23. Stewart Friesen

24. Cole Custer

25. Quin Houff

26. Ty Dillon

27. Bubba Wallace

28. JJ Yeley

29. Kyle Larson

30. Josh Bilicki

31. Mike Marlar

32. Cody Ware

33. Chris Windom

34. Christopher Bell

35. Ross Chastain

36. Aric Almirola

37. Shane Golobic

38. Corey LaJoie

39. Anthony Alfredo

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Hamlin Stuns with Talladega Victory in Photo Finish

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon, beating Matt DiBenedetto to the line in a photo-finish.

Hamlin ran in the back for most of the race to conserve his car for the finish, and he was able to race his way to the front over three overtime finishes.  Hamlin made the pass for the lead as the field entered the trioval, and he was able to beat DiBenedetto to the line by .023 seconds for his seventh victory of the season.

Hamlin said the surprise victory made up for some tough losses throughout the year.

“We just played the strategy…to ride in the back until we were locked in, but things just worked out,” Hamlin said.  “Really excited about this win, unexpected for sure.”

Hamlin got around William Byron and alongside DiBenedetto with a controversial pass below the yellow line in turns 3 and 4.  NASCAR has a rule at superspeedways that no passes below the yellow line are allowed unless the driver is forced there by another driver.

After NASCAR ruled Hamlin was forced down by Chris Buescher, Hamlin said he did what he could to avoid an accident.

“They were crashing in front of us,” Hamlin said.  “Obviously I got forced down like [DiBenedetto] and others did.”

DiBenedetto made a block on William Byron in the middle of turns 3 and 4 that sent Byron’s 24 below the yellow line, and NASCAR ruled against DiBenedetto; his second-place finish turned into a 21st following the ruling.

DiBenedetto said he was doing all he could to hold off the field to try to pick up his first career victory.

“It was actually tough to see, my windshield was filthy from all the Speedy Dry,” DiBenedetto said.  “I was having trouble seeing the block; I was blocking every lane.”

Hamlin took away DiBenedetto’s chance at a victory last year at Bristol, and DiBenedetto said it was a bout of unwanted déjà vu this year at Talladega.

“The emotions…I feel like it’s the same story,” DiBenedetto said.  “Just heartbreak; my wife and I have had a stressful week again.”

“Denny did a great job.  Denny deserves all the support in the world; he’s an incredible racer.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Erik Jones

3. Ty Dillon

4. William Byron

5. Ryan Newman

6. Chris Buescher

7. Tyler Reddick

8. John Hunter Nemechek

9. Brennan Poole

10. Ryan Preece

11. Justin Haley

12. Austin Dillon

13. Quin Houff

14. Alex Bowman

15. Timmy Hill

16. Matt Kenseth

17. Joey Gase

18. Brad Keselowski

19. Cody Ware

20. Kevin Harvick

21. Matt DiBenedetto

22. Chase Elliott

23. Martin Truex Jr.

24. Bubba Wallace

25. Ryan Blaney

26. Joey Logano

27. Kyle Busch

28. Corey LaJoie

29. Jimmie Johnson

30. James Davison

31. Cole Custer

32. Kurt Busch

33. Clint Bowyer

34. Daniel Suarez

35. Brendan Gaughan

36. Michael McDowell

37. Aric Almirola

38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

39. Christopher Bell

Photos courtesy Chris Graythen (Getty Images)

Kurt Busch Shocks Playoff Field with Las Vegas Win

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kurt Busch won the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night for his first career victory at his hometown track.

A caution in the middle of green-flag pit stops late in the race caught most of the leaders -- and most of the Playoff drivers -- a lap down.  Busch stayed out longer than the others and was able to inherit the lead when the caution came out and the other leaders had to wave around.

Over the final 30 laps, Busch held off Matt DiBenedetto, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin over numerous restarts to claim his first victory of 2020 and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Busch said the victory was the culmination of two decades of frustration at his home track.

“You dream of winning at your hometown track, and for two decades it’s kicked my butt,” Busch said.  “I’m in awe, this is what kids dream of when they grow up racing.”

Busch said the victory was due to his crew chief’s pit strategy call finally working in their favor.

“One of those quirky Matt McCall pit sequences finally unfolded,” Busch said.  “We got lucky; I knew the race would come to us, we just needed to get to nightfall.”

Hamlin had one of the fastest cars throughout the race, but he couldn’t get to Busch’s bumper and challenge for the victory in the closing laps.

Hamlin said it was another example of late-race cautions costing his team a chance at the victory.

“Just the same thing as Darlington, untimely cautions,” Hamlin said.  “It’s what’s keeping us out of victory lane.  We obviously had a dominant car today.”

“Really encouraged with the way we ran.  Obviously disappointed we didn’t win and that’s just been the way the Playoffs have gone.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Matt DiBenedetto

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Alex Bowman

6. Kyle Busch

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Erik Jones

9. Chris Buescher

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Joey Logano

15. Ryan Newman

16. Cole Custer

17. Aric Almirola

18. Matt Kenseth

19. Ryan Preece

20. John Hunter Nemechek

21. Michael McDowell

22. Chase Elliott

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Christopher Bell

25. William Byron

26. Ty Dillon

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Bubba Wallace

29. Daniel Suarez

30. Brennan Poole

31. Gray Gaulding

32. Austin Dillon

33. JJ Yeley

34. Quin Houff

35. Joey Gase

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Timmy Hill

38. Tyler Reddick

39. Chad Finchum

Photos courtesy Chris Graythen (Getty Images)