Hamlin takes Chase lead with Texas win

Hamlin takes Chase lead with Texas win



By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(November 7, 2010)

FORT WORTH, Texas—On a bizarre Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin found the best way to assert his claim on the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Hamlin won the AAA Texas 500 to take the lead in the championship battle by 33 points over four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson. In a three-lap sprint to the finish, Hamlin swapped the lead with Matt Kenseth, who ran out of room off Turn 2 on Lap 333 of 334 but managed to hold second.
Mark Martin finished third, followed by Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick, who is third in the standings, 59 points behind Hamlin. Johnson finished ninth and saw his 14-point lead entering the race turn into a 33-point deficit.
Hendrick Motorsports was at the center of Sunday’s strangeness.
Crew chief Chad Knaus “fired” Johnson’s over-the-wall crew, and Jeff Gordon—yes, Jeff Gordon—assaulted Jeff Burton after Burton wrecked Gordon under caution on Lap 190.
Johnson’s pit crew had chronic issues Sunday and cost him valuable track position with slow stops, primarily because of problems with the right front. After a poor stop on Lap 194, Knaus replaced the No. 48 crew with the Gordon’s—because the No. 24 Chevrolet was irreparably wrecked in the incident with Burton.
The 24 crew performed flawlessly—and much faster than the 48 crew had—the remainder of the race.