Hamlin wins in overtime as Truex misses out

NASCAR


Truex Jr had looks comfortable what had been a very uneventful race – leading 228 of the 407 laps – until Kyle Larson got spun off by Bubba Wallace with one lap remaining which sent the race into overtime.

All of the lead lap cars elected to pit for new tyres under the caution and Hamlin beat Truex off pitroad to lead the way on the restart.

Hamlin got a good jump on Truex to clear for the lead, and Truex raced hard with Larson and Logano through Turns 1 and 2. Hamlin edged Logano by 0.269 seconds at the chequered flag to secure his second win of the season, ahead of Larson in third and Truex in fourth.

After taking the chequered flag, an upset Truex rammed into Larson entering Turn 1 and then bumped Hamlin’s car from behind three times on the cooldown lap.

The win is the 53rd of Hamlin’s career and the fifth at his home track of Richmond.

“I’ve had the best pit crew all year long. I loved our chances,” Hamlin said, about going into overtime. “We still had Martin [Truex Jr] – he was the deserving race winner there, but you give these pitcrews an opportunity – this is what it is all about. You have to have your whole team put together – and they just killed it today.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry

Photo by: David Rosenblum / NKP / Motorsport Images

“We were close all day long. We kept the leader right there close to us, but just couldn’t quite get there. It was so excruciatingly hard to pass. It made it really difficult – even with newer tyres. I needed that kind of situation in the end to be able to win it.

“We have high aspirations this year and how many wins we can get, and this is putting us right on track.”

Behind the front four, Chase Elliott rounded out the top five, ahead of Christopher Bell and William Byron, as Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick completed the top 10.

A small piece of NASCAR Cup history occurred on Stage 1, as with light rain still in the area, teams started the race on wet weather tyres, marking the first time in history that the series raced competitively on an oval in damp conditions.

NASCAR Cup Richmond – Race results

1 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 407   10 46
2 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 407 0.269 11 49
3 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 407 0.359 11 51
4 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 407 0.012 11 50
5 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 407 0.233 11 36
6 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 407 0.281 12 36
7 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 407 0.366 11 32
8 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 407 0.277 11 29
9 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 407 0.313 11 32
10 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 407 0.004 11 28
11 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 407 0.155 11 37
12 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 407 0.232 11 25
13 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 407 0.213 11 36
14 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 407 0.058 11 23
15 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 407 0.116 11 25
16

T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING

54 Toyota 407 0.030 11 21
17 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 407 2.926 9 28
18 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 407 0.392 11 19
19 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 407 0.202 10 18
20 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 407 0.972 10 17
21 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 407 0.289 9 21
22 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 407 0.195 8 15
23 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 406 1 Lap 10 14
24 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 406 1.941 9 13
25 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 406 0.485 10 12
26 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 406 0.223 9 11
27

C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS

77 Chevrolet 406 0.633 10 10
28 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 406 0.076 10 10
29 T. DillonKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 406 2.360 8  
30 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 405 1 Lap 11 7
31 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 405 0.961 10 6
32 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 405 1.233 9 5
33 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 405 0.699 8 4
34 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 405 0.209 9 3
35

Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS

71 Chevrolet 404 1 Lap 11 2
36 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 404 5.147 10 1



Source link

Products You May Like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *