Hamlin wins combustible classic in front of sold-out Watkins Glen
August 7, 2016
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
WATKINS
GLEN, N.Y. – Denny Hamlin, winner of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen,
entertained a sold-out grandstand with a celebratory burnout that
trailed a plume of smoke the
entire length of the frontstretch at Watkins Glen International.
But
Hamlin’s smoke show—with a bad back, no less—paled in comparison to the
fireworks that preceded the checkered flag, Hamlin’s first at a NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series road course.
The
race was in doubt until the final corner, with Martin Truex Jr.
pressuring Hamlin, who led the final 10 laps after surging past Brad
Keselowski and Kyle Busch in Turn 1 following
a Lap 81 restart.
But
Truex never got a chance to drag-race Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota to the finish line. As the cars neared the exit from Turn 7, with
Truex running second and Keselowski
third, contact from Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford sent Truex’s No. 78 Toyota
spinning.
Defending
race winner Joey Logano took advantage of the melee to finish second
ahead of Keselowski and 2014 Watkins Glen winner AJ Allmendinger, who
knocked Kyle Larson off the
track and into the inside barrier on the way to a fourth-place finish.
Tony
Stewart recovered from an early mistake—blowing the inner loop and
losing 10 positions in the process—to finish fifth. Kyle Busch was sixth
and Truex seventh after the last-lap
spin.
Hamlin won the race in pain, with nerve endings on fire in his back.
“I
just woke up with back spasms this morning,” he explained. “Just hits
me every three or four months or so. I just wake up and can’t move.
Really doubted being in the race
car today, to be honest with you, but can’t say enough about this whole
FedEx Freight Toyota team.
“Should’ve
won both road courses (Hamlin was second to Stewart at Sonoma), which
is something we never would’ve predicted going into the year. Sold out
crowd, two years in a
row, this is a good time. I’ve finally won at all of the (types of)
race tracks, so it’s a great accomplishment for us.”
For
the second straight year, the Daytona 500 champion also has gone to
Victory Lane at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen road course, with Hamlin
joining 2015 winner Logano in that
accomplishment. The victory was Hamlin’s second of the season and the
28th of his career, and though Hamlin was in a mood to celebrate, there
were plenty of hurt feelings behind him.
Keselowski
took responsibility for the incident with Truex, who expressed his
displeasure by banging fenders with the No. 2 car on the cool-down lap.
“I
got right up to the bumper of the 78 (Truex) and couldn’t do anything
there, and he made a move to get by the 11 (Hamlin) on the inside, and
the 11 blocked him,” Keselowski
said. “I went high, and the 78 went high and by then I was already deep
in the corner and got into him and turned him. That was really
unfortunate, and the last thing I wanted to see.
“This
track here, when you drive into the corner, you commit, and sometimes
you don’t know what will happen when you commit. The last thing I wanted
to do was turn him. I’m proud
of my guys for a really fast race car and it was another crazy Watkins
Glen day.”
That
craziness included eight cautions for 20 laps, four for multicar
incidents in the final 38 laps. There were two yellows after Hamlin took
the lead on Lap 81, when Kyle Busch
and Keselowski ran wide in Turn 1, and Hamlin seized the moment.
After
the final restart on Lap 87 of 90, Truex stayed close to Hamlin, almost
getting to the bumper of the No. 11 in the final corner before the
contact from Keselowski turned
him. The ensuing chaos allowed Hamlin to cross the finish line 2.065
seconds ahead of Logano for a victory that was nowhere near as
comfortable as that margin might seem to indicate.
It was an ending befitting a race track accustomed to wild racing.
"Typical
Watkins Glen," Logano said. "I mean, it's just awesome, crazy racing,
full contact. Just insane out there. So a lot of fun from the driver's
seat and I'm sure the
fans loved it as well in front of a sold out grandstand. It was pretty
cool when I pulled over for the red flag in front of the grandstands and
I could hear just fans screaming and yelling and loving it. I thought,
‘Man, this is really cool to be in the driver's
seat right now.’ "
Notes:
With his car obliterated in a four-car wreck on lap 53, Jimmie Johnson
finished last (40th) in a Sprint Cup race for the first time in his
career. ... Danica Patrick led
11 laps on Sunday, a career best for a single Sprint Cup event,
exceeding the seven laps she had led on two occasions at Talladega. ...
The victim of an early accident, Jeff Gordon recovered to finish 14th in
relief of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who missed his fourth
straight race because of concussion-like symptoms.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race - Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
Sunday, August 07, 2016
1. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 90.
2. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, 90.
3. (12) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 90.
4. (9) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 90.
5. (3) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 90.
6. (5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 90.
7. (14) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 90.
8. (10) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 90.
9. (32) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 90.
10. (4) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 90.
11. (17) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 90.
12. (20) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 90.
13. (16) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 90.
14. (21) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 90.
15. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 90.
16. (8) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 90.
17. (11) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 90.
18. (28) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 90.
19. (19) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 90.
20. (23) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 90.
21. (31) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 90.
22. (33) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 90.
23. (40) Landon Cassill, Ford, 90.
24. (37) Boris Said, Ford, 90.
25. (27) Brian Scott #, Ford, 90.
26. (39) * Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 90.
27. (34) Aric Almirola, Ford, 90.
28. (22) * Cole Whitt, Toyota, 90.
29. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 89.
30. (25) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 89.
31. (18) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 89.
32. (15) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, Accident, 83.
33. (26) David Ragan, Toyota, Accident, 83.
34. (35) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, Accident, 83.
35. (29) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 77.
36. (36) * Alex Kennedy, Chevrolet, Engine, 76.
37. (38) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 74.
38. (30) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, Accident, 52.
39. (24) Greg Biffle, Ford, Accident, 52.
40. (13) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Accident, 52.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 89.513 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 27 Mins, 48 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.065 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 8 drivers.
Lap
Leaders: C. Edwards 1-25; M. Truex Jr. 26; J. Logano 27-33; D.
Patrick 34-44; Kyle Busch 45-48; B. Keselowski 49; Kurt Busch 50-52; J.
Logano 53; B. Keselowski 54-80; D.
Hamlin 81-90.
Leaders
Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): B. Keselowski 2 times for 28
laps; C. Edwards 1 time for 25 laps; D. Patrick 1 time for 11 laps; D.
Hamlin 1 time for 10 laps;
J. Logano 2 times for 8 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 4 laps; Kurt Busch 1
time for 3 laps; M. Truex Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Top
16 in Points: B. Keselowski - 727; K. Harvick - 718; Kurt Busch - 689;
Kyle Busch - 670; C. Edwards - 653; J. Logano - 652; D. Hamlin - 620; M.
Truex Jr. - 612; M. Kenseth
- 600; J. Johnson - 578; R. Newman - 562; C. Elliott # - 561; A. Dillon
- 559; J. Mcmurray - 550; K. Larson - 520; T. Bayne - 512.
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