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Tag: Denny Hamlin

  • Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin finds redemption from last week’s mistake to secure his spot into the Championship 4 by winning the Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway.

    “I can’t believe it,” Hamlin said post-race.

    Hamlin was below the cutoff race and lost 44 points in a single race. Today’s win negates that mistake as the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota will go for his first career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series championship.

    “This race team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve to be there. I put them in a bad hole last week. I told them today in the meeting, I said, I’m going to give everything I’ve got to make up for the mistake I made last week. That’s all I got.”

    Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. will join Hamlin and go for their second championship. If one of them wins next weekend, they will become the second active driver in the field with multiple championships (Jimmie Johnson holds seven titles).

    “Guys did a great job, this M&M Camry was good,” Busch shared. “Thanks to everybody at JGR, Stanley, Toyota, TRD. It’s cool to have a chance to go race for a championship.”

    Truex was the first driver to lock in after winning at Martinsville.

    “I know we’re ready for Homestead,” stated a confident Truex. “To put three (JGR) cars in the Championship 4 is pretty incredible, so thanks to TRD and Toyota and all those guys. Bass Pro, Auto-Owners, everybody that helps us on the 19, and we’ll see what we can do next week.”

    Harvick will be the second seed with his 49th career victory last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “The one thing about this particular year, it seems like you’ve had great weeks, you’ve had mediocre weeks so that momentum thing is kind of hit-or-miss as you go through it,” Harvick explained the various parts of his season as being a momentum factor. “Just really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford.”

    Joey Logano pit stop ISM Raceway 2019
    Joey Logano comes to pit road for full service, four tires and fuel. The adjustments the crew made would hurt the car instead of help, as the No. 22 team fell one lap down. Photo courtesy of Rachel Schuoler with Speedway Media.

    Stage 2 winner and Playoff contender Joey Logano was competing up front in the first half of the race. After the conclusion of Stage 2, Logano’s crew made an adjustment on the car that appeared to not agree with the track conditions. When the field returned to green flag racing, Logano dropped through the field and even fell a lap down. He could never recover, finished ninth, and was the first driver eliminated from the Playoffs after being above the cutoff line to start the day.

    “I went from a car that could lead and win a stage and run really well, and from what they told me, it was an air pressure adjustment made it go from a winning car to can’t stay on the lead lap, and one of the tightest things I’ve ever driven. I don’t really understand it. It doesn’t make any sense. You change tires and change a half pint of air, that sounds ridiculous. It is what it is. Just wasn’t our year to make it, I guess. But we’ll fight for fifth, I guess, in points for this year, and we’ll move on.”

    “It stinks. It hurts a little bit, but we’ll live,” Logano said. “Everything is going to be OK. Life is a lot worse in other ways for some. We’re still fortunate to be here and get to do what we love. It’s a bummer for sure. It doesn’t take anything away from that, but it’s just part of the game sometimes.”

    Three other drivers in must-win situations were also eliminated from the Playoffs: Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. For Elliott, he battled for the lead throughout the first half of the race, but a blown tire in Turn 1 caused race-ending damage on his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, it’s just a continuation of our first two weeks, unfortunately, ” Elliott said. “I feel like we were in a good position to run solid. I’m not sure why we had a tire go down. I think that’s what happened, at least; it seemed like it. It’s unfortunate. Like I said, these last three weeks have been pretty rough. So, hopefully, Homestead goes better and we can get prepared good for next season and get a good notebook for next year.”

    “All in all, a great season for our team,” Larson shared after the race. “A little rocky at the start, but we kept our heads down and kept working hard and got our stuff a lot better and more consistent throughout this season. We’ll try to go to Homestead next week and get a win.”

    Busch, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Truex finished in the top six respectively. Erik Jones was the highest non-Playoff driver who finished in seventh. Clint Bowyer, Logano and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 positions. Elliott, the final Playoff driver, finished 39th after crashing out on Lap 166.

    The champion for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be crowned next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  • Opinion: Suspension of crew member involved in Hamlin/Logano scuffle correct move on NASCAR’s part

    Opinion: Suspension of crew member involved in Hamlin/Logano scuffle correct move on NASCAR’s part

    A week after several crew members jumped into the Kansas scuffle between Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick, another scuffle involving crew members has taken center stage again. As a result, NASCAR has suspended a Team Penske crew member for collaring Denny Hamlin and throwing him to the ground following his scuffle with Penske driver Joey Logano.

    Following Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville, Logano and Hamlin first exchanged words, then shoves before crews stepped in to pull the drivers apart. But while other crew members appeared to be working to pull the drivers apart, Dave Nichols Jr., a tire technician for the No. 22 team, appeared to collar Hamlin and pull him to the ground before Hamlin’s crew converged on Nichols.

    That move is what led to NASCAR suspending Nichols for the next race, as he was found in violation of Section 12.8.1.C, which addresses member-to-member confrontations with physical violence.

    An argument can be made that the crews are doing nothing more than protecting their driver’s honor or respect. In some sense, that may be honorable. But unless the crews are working to break up a quarrel between drivers, their actions may only go to further escalate a situation into something it didn’t need to turn into.

    Last week I brought up how some of those in the NASCAR community were talking about how the sport needs to implement a third-man rule much like the NHL. Let those drivers who were involved settle their dispute, be it with words or fists, and unless a crew member is working to de-escalate the situation they stay out of it or they risk a fine and/or a suspension.

    There was no reason for Nichols to play the hero and collar Hamlin. His responsibility at that point was to help de-escalate the situation and make sure his driver didn’t get into too much trouble. His actions were over-the-top and unnecessary and made the No. 22 crew look bad.

    The issue is between the drivers, not the crew. The drivers are the ones in control of what happens on the track; they’re the ones that know what truly goes down when it goes down. They are also the ones the fans have come to see and if there’s an issue, the fans want to see them handle the issue one-on-one.

    Hopefully, the suspension of Nichols is actually seen as a deterrent to the other members on all the teams to not try anything unnecessary during a scuffle between drivers. Let them hash out their beef and be done with it.

    Meanwhile, the crew’s job is to act in the best interests of their driver, team, and organization. Collaring a driver and throwing him to the ground is non-conducive to that. The call to suspend Nichols was a good call on NASCAR’s part, so the only thing left to do is to hope it’s enough of a deterrent lest the sanctioning body moves to harsher reprimands.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas in a cut-off race that narrowed the field to eight drivers.

    “Anytime it’s an elimination race,” Hamlin said, “things can get crazy. So, even though this race was sponsored by Hollywood Casino, ‘all bets were off.’”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch took third in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.

    “This is the time of year when pressure builds,” Busch said. “That was evident in Saturday’s Xfinity race when Daniel Hemric and Cole Custer were involved in an altercation. Things got physical, and a little sexy, because the ‘fight’ was really just a very intense hug.”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished sixth in the Hollywood Casino 400 and joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin in the Playoff Round of 8.

    “It’s me, Denny, and Kyle,” Truex said. “Some people would call that ‘Two Men And A Baby.’”

    4. Kevin Harvick: Inspection issues forced Harvick to start 40th but he worked his way through the field to post a ninth. He heads to Round 3 of the Playoffs in fifth, 18 out of first.

    “I didn’t even get to qualify,” Harvick said. “But there’s something cool about starting at the back of the field. Starting at the ‘ass-end’ of the field, you get a true perspective of the ‘ass-end’ of talent in this series.”

    5. Kyle Larson: Larson finished 14th in the Hollywood Casino 400 and is seventh in the Playoff points standings, 35 out of first.

    “I had a run-in with the lapped car of Joey Gase,” Larson said. “He was in my way and I needed to be somewhere, so I moved him. It’s football season so I gave Joey the ‘punt, the pass, and the kick (to the curb).’”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano survived a late accident and slide through the grass to finish 17th at Kansas and advanced to the Round of 8, where he’ll be the sole representative of Penske Racing.

    “I feel like it’s me against the world,” Logano said. “So, I’m gonna go out there and be a ‘world beater.’ Unfortunately, no one will care, because the general opinion of me is a ‘world of indifference.’”

    7. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished second at Kansas which was good enough to secure the final playoff spot.

    “That was close,” Elliott said, “and I get the cigar. And, as the kids say, it was ‘lit.’”

    8. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 21st at Kansas and heads to Martinsville eighth in the Playoff points standings.

    “I’m last among the eight drivers in the Playoff field,” Blaney said. “I feel like I’m the forgotten driver in the Playoffs. But I very well could quietly sneak in and eliminate the rest of the field. Then you could call me ‘champion,’ and Kurt Busch could call me ‘assassin.’”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 18th at Kansas and narrowly missed advancing to the next round of the Playoffs.

    “Had a late caution came out just a fraction of a second later,” Keselowski said, “I’d be in the Playoff field. But we all know NASCAR wanted that extra restart. I’d like a do-over because I have some ‘un-finish-ed’ business I’d like to take care of.”

    10. William Byron: Byron finished fifth at Kansas and failed to make the Playoff Round of 8.

    “You probably heard about the flock of birds flying into the NASCAR Hall Of Fame,” Byron said. “I guess they really wanted to get in. But come on birds, show some manners. Don’t you know, ‘Birds of a feather knock together.’”

  • Hamlin hangs on to win in overtime restart at Kansas

    Hamlin hangs on to win in overtime restart at Kansas

    Kansas City, KS – After two attempts in overtime, Denny Hamlin held on to win at Kansas Speedway for his fifth victory this season. It’s his second victory at Kansas and his first since 2012.

    Hamlin took the lead on Lap 227 and never looked back to score the victory in the conclusion of the Round of 12.

    “Everything is good,” Hamlin said about the win. “The cars are fast, we’re executing well. I feel like I’m giving the right information to the crew chief to let him make adjustments if he needs to make it faster. I thought practice was a telling sign for us. Every time we came into the pits to work on it, when it came out, it was better. We did a really good job of making our car better throughout the weekend. We didn’t qualify all that well, being 23rd or so. I knew we were going to have a car that was going to go to the front and that’s what we had.”

    Prior to the Hollywood Casino 400, Daniel Hemric qualified on the front row for his first career pole in his career. Kevin Harvick didn’t get to put a qualifying lap down due to failing inspection and as a result, the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver started last. Stages were 80/80/107 laps to make up the 267-lap race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 80

    There were barely any incidents during the first stage. However, there were many lead changes. Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano all swapped the lead between each other. The yellow flew late in Stage 1 on Lap 76 for debris in Turn 4 after contact was made between Roush Fenway Racing teammates Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman. Newman got the worse of the damage and wound up in last place.

    A late-stage restart came on Lap 78. Logano won the stage after Larson’s crew had trouble during the caution prior to the restart. Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Hamlin, Erik Jones and Stenhouse were the top-10 finishers.

    During the stage break, Kyle Busch’s team had to fix the right side quarter panel of his car after damage from the restart. Alex Bowman was also on pit road to fix his damage.

    Stage 2: Lap 86- Lap 160

    Just a few laps after the start of Stage 2, Larson made contact with the No. 66 of Joey Gase which sent him spinning toward the inside grass. This brought the caution out on Lap 113. The leaders came down pit road to make a pit stop under the caution. During that round of pit stops, playoff drivers Kyle Busch and Larson were penalized. Larson was penalized for an uncontrolled tire and Busch for too many crew members over the wall.

    From there, Hamlin took the lead on Lap 124 and went on to win the second stage. Blaney, Truex, Byron, Elliott, Harvick, Logano, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer and Busch completed the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 166- Lap 277

    There was a long green-flag during the final stage. Hamlin had the dominant car, taking the lead on Lap 126 and leading for 93 laps. After green-flag pit stops, a caution came on Lap 265, just two laps before the race ended.

    The No. 43 of Bubba Wallace’s tire hub broke off coming out of Turn 2 forcing the race to go into overtime. The No. 36 of Matt Tifft was also involved.

    After the caution, the field was bunched up to do it all over again and hope to complete the race in two laps. However, right before Hamlin took the white flag, an accident on the front stretch occurred. Keselowski and Suarez made contact with each other off Turn 4. Hemric, Logano and Austin Dillon were also involved.

    Despite the two overtime restarts, Hamlin held off a hard charging Chase Elliott for the win.

    “It just depends,” Hamlin said in regard to winning his first championship. “We believe a successful year is making it to Homestead. Anything can happen in one race. I don’t think you should necessarily deem your season off one race. I think this year as a whole, we consider this a successful season, even if something were to happen in the next round. We certainly wouldn’t be pleased about it but everyone tries to do the best of their job and let the chips fall where they may. We’re not going to let one race dictate whether this year is a success or not.”

    Hamlin finished eighth in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and led three times for 153 laps to earn six playoff points.

    The Hollywood Casino 400 was a cut off race and Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney all advanced to the Round of 8 that begins next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

    Official Results

    1. Denny Hamlin, won Stage 2, led 153 laps
    2. Chase Elliott, led four laps
    3. Kyle Busch
    4. Kurt Busch
    5. William Byron, led one lap
    6. Martin Truex Jr., led 33 laps
    7. Erik Jones
    8. Clint Bowyer
    9. Kevin Harvick
    10. Jimmie Johnson
    11. Alex Bowman, led seven laps
    12. Ryan Preece
    13. Chris Buescher
    14. Kyle Larson, led 60 laps
    15. Matt DiBenedetto
    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    17. Joey Logano, won Stage 1, led four laps
    18. Paul Menard
    19. Brad Keselowski, led two laps
    20. Austin Dillon
    21. Ryan Blaney, led two laps
    22. Ty Dillon, one lap down
    23. Aric Almirola, three laps down
    24. Michael McDowell, three laps down
    25. Matt Tifft, four laps down
    26. David Ragan, four laps down
    27. Ross Chastain, five laps down
    28. Corey LaJoie, five laps down
    29. Parker Kligerman, six laps down
    30. J.J. Yeley, six laps down
    31. Daniel Hemric, OUT, Crash
    32. Daniel Suarez, OUT, Crash
    33. Reed Sorenson, nine laps down
    34. Garrett Smithley, 10 laps down
    35. Bubba Wallace, OUT, Crash
    36. Josh Bilicki, 15 laps down
    37. Landon Cassill, OUT, Vibration
    38. Joey Gase, OUT, Crash
    39. Timmy Hill, OUT, Too Slow
    40. Ryan Newman, OUT, Crash

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers take to Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 27 to begin the Round of 8.

  • Hamlin disappointed with fifth-place finish at Dover

    Hamlin disappointed with fifth-place finish at Dover

    It was a dominating day for Denny Hamlin who was making his 500th career Cup Series start this weekend at Dover. Hamlin made it even more special by qualifying on the pole which gave him great track position to begin the race.

    Hamlin was strong early in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camary and led almost every lap. The car was strong enough that Hamlin ended Stage 1 as the victor. After the pit stops, he was still able to maintain his lead for the most part in Stage 2.

    However, on Lap 229 Hamlin was passed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. for the lead. It would be the last time we saw Hamlin out front, as he would have a challenging car while being stuck back in traffic.

    At the end of the day, it wasn’t the result the No. 11 team wanted with Hamlin finishing fifth after leading nearly half the race despite a potential engine issue, only to come up short.

    “I didn’t do a good job under caution, I missed a shift there on that last restart,” Hamlin described to MRN Radio. “It’s just unfortunate, I didn’t do my best, but I’m proud of the effort we had today. We did a hell of a job with our racecar. I just didn’t quite keep up with the race track. This is by far the best race I had at this race track. So, really happy with that result and happy we could go out there, compete and lead laps at this track.”

    The fifth-place finish was Hamlin’s 15th top five of the season. He also led 218 laps, won Stage 1 and finished third in Stage 2.

  • Hamlin wins pole in 500th start at Dover

    Hamlin wins pole in 500th start at Dover

    It has been a special weekend for Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team. Hamlin is making his 500th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway. It will be even more memorable for Hamlin as he set a new track record with a time of 21.55.

    “No, not pole-winning, but definitely a race-winning car,” Hamlin said to MRN Radio. “I felt like if we did everything right and we have a good starting spot, going to have good advantage there on pit road. Really happy for the guys. To have that quick of a lap here in this type of format, where stage points are going to be very important is really good for us. We’re proud of it and this is a lot of hard work that went into this.”

    It was Hamlin’s first pole of the 2019 season and the 31st of his career.

    Kyle Larson qualified on the outside pole, Martin Truex Jr. was third, Kevin Harvick was fourth, Chase Elliott qualified fifth, William Byron will start sixth, Aric Almirola will start seventh, Erik Jones in eighth, Kurt Busch in ninth and Ryan Blaney rounds out the top-10 qualifiers for Sunday’s Drydene 400.

    Hamlin has yet to win at Dover International Speedway and seeks his first victory in Sunday’s race.

    “You’re going to have to keep up with the racetrack,” Hamlin added to MRN Radio. “I think the racetrack is going to change dramatically after the first or second stage. I’m just going to try and wheel it the best I can, give the best information I can. Obviously, the car will be right there for me. Our teammates are really special around this track and spent a lot of time this week studying them.”

    Sunday’s race will begin the next round of the playoffs with the Round of 12. The Round of 12 will take place over the next three races at Dover, then on to Talladega and Kansas will be the cut-off race before the Round of 8 begins.

    Official Qualifying Results

    1. Denny Hamlin, making 500th start, Playoff driver
    2. Kyle Larson, fastest in final practice, Playoff driver
    3. Martin Truex Jr., Playoff driver
    4. Kevin Harvick, fastest in first practice, Playoff driver
    5. Chase Elliott, won last years fall race, Playoff driver
    6. William Byron, Playoff driver
    7. Aric Almirola
    8. Erik Jones
    9. Kurt Busch
    10. Ryan Blaney, Playoff driver
    11. Jimmie Johnson
    12. Alex Bowman, Playoff driver
    13. Paul Menard
    14. Joey Logano, Playoff driver
    15. Daniel Suarez
    16. Brad Keselowski, Playoff driver
    17. Clint Bowyer, Playoff driver
    18. Kyle Busch, Playoff driver
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    20. Matt DiBenedetto
    21. David Ragan
    22. Chris Buescher
    23. Matt Tifft
    24. Ryan Newman
    25. Ty Dillon
    26. Bubba Wallace
    27. Austin Dillon
    28. Michael McDowell
    29. Corey LaJoie
    30. Landon Cassill
    31. Daniel Hemric
    32. Ryan Preece
    33. B.J. McLeod
    34. Ross Chastain
    35. J.J. Yeley
    36. Joe Nemechek
    37. Garrett Smithley
    38. Reed Sorenson

    The Drydene 400 can be seen live on NBCSN with NASCAR America at 1:30 p.m. ET followed by Countdown to Green at 2 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled to fly shortly after 2:30 p.m. ET.

  • Byron, Hamlin, Larson ready for Playoffs

    Byron, Hamlin, Larson ready for Playoffs

    With a disastrous qualifying effort of 29th earlier Sunday, Byron had his work cut out for him for a good finish. At the end of Stage 2, the No. 24 team finished ninth. He had a close call with his teammate Jimmie Johnson at the beginning of Stage 3 but fortunately carried on and wound up with a fourth-place effort.

    “It was a good run for us,” Byron said to PRN Radio. “We obviously got the damage early on pit road. I was really surprised how well the car ran. I think we could have been even better with less damage but should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, we still ended up fourth and really happy with that. Just grinded it out and had a good day. It was a lot of wild starts, a lot of wild things going on. I was fortunate to hang on.”

    Byron will be seeded 13th in the playoff grid.

    Like Byron, Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had a poor qualifying outing of 33rd Sunday morning but had to start from the back due to an engine problem in practice. However, he worked his way through the field hoping to give Joe Gibbs Racing another crown jewel win. Hamlin finished eighth in Stage 1 but did not record a top-10 finish in Stage 2.

    He was unable to lead a lap, but with four wins, Hamlin is playoff-bound and is ready to pursue the championship.

    “I thought we had a second-place car but these cars and the track is such a hard combination together,” Hamlin said to PRN Radio. “We just couldn’t get the track position. Whoever was out front just had a tremendous advantage and that’s why the 4 (Harvick) controlled the race and everything worked out for them.”

    “We got to get a little bit better, not going to a backup car, blowing tires and things like that. Certainly, we had to go to the back in most races. This is another great rebound for us.”

    Hamlin is seeded second in the playoff points grid.

    Kyle Larson and his No. 42 team were not so lucky after a crash on Lap 130 which eventually took him out of the race. He wound up in 33rd place. Despite the finish, the Chip Ganassi driver is making the Playoffs once more in his career.

    “I feel good,” Larson said to PRN Radio about the playoff run. “Our cars have been really good here the past couple of months. Been extremely happy about that and our car today especially. I hate that I made the mistake there and spun, but overall, proud of the team and the cars we been bringing to the track lately.”

    Larson finished second in both stages and will be seeded ninth in the standings.

  • Custer declared winner at Darlington after Hamlin fails post-race inspection

    Custer declared winner at Darlington after Hamlin fails post-race inspection

    DARLINGTON, S.C. –  Denny Hamlin’s apparent victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 was short-lived when his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota failed post-race inspection. NASCAR determined that the height requirements were not met stating that the left front was too low while it was too high in the right rear.

    This was the fourth time this season that a car has been disqualified following a race in the Xfinity Series but only the first time that it has involved the winner.

    Cole Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford was declared as the winner, moving him from second to first place to claim his sixth victory this season and his first at Darlington Raceway. He is now tied with Christopher for the most wins in the series and is third in the playoff standings.

    ‘It’s a really strange feeling,” obviously, Custer said in his post-race interview. “You don’t want to win them that way, but it is what it is. We all play by the same rules. Was that the deciding factor? No, with everything, he won the race but it is what it is. We get the points. We get the money and we get everything, including the trophy so we’ll take it.”

    Tyler Reddick finished second after leading 70 laps. Ryan Blaney led 50 laps and is credited with third place with Christopher Bell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounding out the top five finishers.

    Earnhardt was pleased with his result in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet featuring a throwback paint scheme that honored his father’s first start in the premier series in 1975 at Charlotte.

    “I love this place,” said Earnhardt. You never know how good you are till you come back and try it. All these guys are elite. All these guys do this every single week, and they’re very, very talented. To think you can take a year off and come back and be good, you just never know. But we did all right!”

    Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10.

    There are only two races left before the Xfinity Series Playoffs begin. Reddick leads the regular-season standings by 51 points over Bell while Custer is 136 points behind in third place.

    Next week the Xfinity Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indiana 250.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Hamlin scores emotional win at Bristol

    Hamlin scores emotional win at Bristol

    Start first, finish first for Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing, but it wasn’t all that easy.

    Hamlin was dominant in the first stage, swapping the lead back and forth with Kyle Larson six times before Hamlin had a right-rear tire go down after contact. The JGR driver was quiet after Stage 1 until he made contact with race leader Matt DiBenedetto for the lead with 12 to go. Hamlin was able to hold off DiBenedetto for his fourth win of the season.

    “It feels good,” Hamlin said to PRN Radio. “My first reaction was, I’m sorry to Matt (DiBenedetto). I mean I know those guys really wanted to win and Matt (DiBenedetto) really deserves to win. Watching him (DiBenedetto) do an interview, I get emotional for him. I just hate that I had to take it from him.”

    Hamlin sat on the pole Friday afternoon, which gave him his first pole of the season.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 125

    Hamlin was strong early leading 14 laps before getting stuck in lap traffic, allowing Larson to close in and take the lead. Both drivers would swap the lead a couple of times before a caution on Lap 81 when Hamlin was involved in an accident with Austin Dillon and Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin had to pit under caution for a flat right-rear tire that went down.

    There were no more cautions and Larson took the stage win. Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola rounded out the top-10 finishers for Stage 1. Hamlin finished 11th after pitting for the right-rear tire.

    Under the stage break, Larson, Truex, Elliott, Harvick, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Blaney, Jones and Clint Bowyer were among the ones to pit.

    Stage 2: Lap 135 – Lap 250

    The second stage has more incidents than Stage 1. On Lap 160, Chicago winner Alex Bowman had a left front tire rub but no caution was warranted. The battle for the lead heated up four laps later with last week’s winner, Harvick and Truex followed suit. Johnson went two laps down on Lap 169. More issues arose for Hamlin on Lap 178 when he reported a loose wheel and he eventually went in to pit on Lap 186. The problem later turned out to be the right-side tire.

    The third caution came out on Lap 191 as Almirola made contact with the 54 of J.J. Yeley. Replays later showed that Almirola tried coming down to pass the 54 before being clipped by Yeley. Almirola would later bring out another caution on Lap 214 after being involved in an accident with the 51 of B.J. McLeod. It was a big moment for Kyle Busch as he had been struggling all night and received the free pass to get back on the lead lap. Busch was running 19th at the time of caution.

    A close call took place with Blaney on Lap 231 with the 52 of Kyle Weatherman. Blaney may have received right front damage. A caution came out again on Lap 242 as Quin Houff made contact with Bowyer which sent Bowyer spinning up the track in Turn 2. Bowyer escaped without any major damage. The caution would be a huge break for Hamlin as he received the free pass.

    This would set up a late Stage 2 restart with three laps to go. The top six of Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Newman, Daniel Hemric and Kyle Busch stayed out under caution. Under the caution, Harvick who had led 28 laps, went behind the wall with clutch problems. The No. 4 driver would not return to the race and wound up with a disappointing last-place finish.

    By staying out, Kurt Busch was able to win the second stage. Suarez, Newman, Kyle Busch, Byron, Elliott, Jones, Keselowski, Hemric and Truex rounded out the top-10 in Stage 2. Hamlin was 18th in the second stage.

    Stage 3: Lap 260 – Lap 500

    In the early part of Stage 3, Kyle Busch, who had been struggling earlier, was able to take the lead and led for 11 laps before Keselowski took over for a short while. Both would take the lead several times creating an interesting battle up front. Keselowski eventually took the lead and led 85 laps before battling with Busch again.

    On lap 313, Reed Sorenson was out of the race with a clutch problem. The race started to get interesting on Lap 360 as Truex came down pit road with a right front tire down. Just two laps later, Bowman brought out the seventh caution of the night after blowing a left front tire. Joey Logano and Byron would also be caught in the crash with Logano receiving the most damage.

    The night would go from bad to worse for Logano as he was caught with a safety violation under caution. Race leaders Kyle Busch, Jones, Larson and Hamlin, among others, made a pit stop as well.

    The eighth caution came out for a big wreck on Lap 374. Blaney shot straight up the track in Turn 1 as he couldn’t turn due to a right front tire that went down. He took Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, David Ragan and Johnson with him. McDowell had heavy damage as did Johnson who had the right side sheet metal torn apart with styrofoam coming out of the side.

    After that, there was a long green-flag run with 113 laps to the finish. Race leader Kyle Busch hit the dusty part of the PJ1 which slowed him down and eventually cost him the win. At that point, fan-favorite DiBenedetto skyrocketed to second trying to catch Erik Jones for the lead.

    It wasn’t until a few laps later on Lap 396 when DiBenedetto finally passed Jones for the lead. On the same lap, Jones got loose and made contact with the wall and collected Elliott. Jones later had to pit for the damage.

    From that point on, DiBenedetto set a blistering pace in search of his first career win. He was lapping cars left and right until he caught Ryan Newman, who is a hard driver to pass on the racetrack. Newman gave DiBenedetto a run for his money.

    With DiBenedetto and Newman racing for the lead, Hamlin was able to close in on him, lap by lap. With 12 to go, Hamlin was side-by-side with race leader DiBenedetto. Both made contact on the backstretch, giving the 95 some left front tire damage.

    Unfortunately for DiBenedetto, he ran out of time and laps as Hamlin went on to win at Bristol.

    “Yeah, he was good,” Hamlin said in describing DiBenedetto’s run. “It was probably the setup I ran last year. Mike Wheeler has a great set up for this place. Matt was just doing a phenomenal job, that’s all you could say. He’s a helluva racecar driver and he’s going to land on his feet in a better ride then he’s got now.”

    Despite getting damage early on, Hamlin was able to come back and take home his second win at Bristol.

    “It means a lot, it’s emotional for a lot of reasons,” Hamlin added to PRN Radio. “The team is on a roll like I’ve never seen before. It hasn’t been this good in a long time.”

    Hamlin led four times for 79 laps before picking up the win at Bristol. He also collected five playoff points in the process.

    There were eight cautions for 61 laps and 23 lead changes among 10 different drivers.

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series takes their final off weekend before returning to Darlington International Raceway on Sunday Sept.1.

    Playoff Standings

    1. Kyle Busch – Four wins
    2. Denny Hamlin – Four wins
    3. Martin Truex Jr. – Four wins
    4. Brad Keselowski – Three wins
    5. Joey Logano – Two wins
    6. Kevin Harvick – Two wins
    7. Chase Elliott – Two wins
    8. Kurt Busch One win
    9. Alex Bowman – One win
    10. Ryan Blaney +95
    11. Kyle Larson +74
    12. William Byron +73
    13. Aric Almirola +63
    14. Erik Jones +63
    15. Ryan Newman +12
    16. Daniel Suarez

    Official Results

    1. Denny Hamlin – led 79 laps
    2. Matt DiBenedetto – led 93 laps
    3. Brad Keselowski – led 91 laps
    4. Kyle Busch – led 30 laps
    5. Chase Elliott – led 33 laps
    6. Kyle Larson – led 62 laps, won Stage 1
    7. Clint Bowyer
    8. Daniel Suarez – one lap down
    9. Kurt Busch – won Stage 2
    10. Ryan Blaney – one lap down
    11. Ryan Newman – one lap down
    12. Daniel Hemric – one lap down
    13. Martin Truex Jr. – two laps down, led 52 laps
    14. Bubba Wallace – two laps down
    15. Alex Bowman – three laps down
    16. Joey Logano – three laps down
    17. Chris Buescher – three laps down
    18. Ryan Preece – three laps down
    19. Jimmie Johnson – four laps down
    20. Ty Dillon – four laps down
    21. William Byron, four laps down
    22. Erik Jones – five laps down
    23. Paul Menard – five laps down
    24. Corey LaJoie – six laps down
    25. Landon Cassill – 10 laps down
    26. Ross Chastain – 10 laps down
    27. Matt Tifft – OUT, Suspension
    28. J.J. Yeley – 15 laps down
    29. Aric Almirola – 18 laps down
    30. Quin Houff – 22 laps down
    31. Kyle Weatherman – 26 laps down
    32. B.J. McLeod – OUT, Front Hub
    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, DVP
    34. Austin Dillon – 113 laps down
    35. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Fatigue
    36. David Ragan – OUT, Crash
    37. Michael McDowell – OUT, Crash
    38. Reed Sorenson – OUT, Crash
    39. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Clutch, led 28 laps

  • FedEx Racing Express Facts – Watkins Glen

    FedEx Racing Express Facts – Watkins Glen

    Denny Hamlin
    #11 FedEx Cares Toyota
    Joe Gibbs Racing

    Race Info:
    Race: GoBowling at The Glen
    Date/Time: August 4/3:00 p.m. ET
    Distance: 90 laps/220.5 miles
    Track Length: 2.45 miles
    Track Shape: 11-Turn Road Course
    2018 Winner: Chase Elliott

    Express Notes:

    Pocono Recap: Denny Hamlin notched his third win of the 2019 season Sunday in a nail-biting, overtime finish at Pocono Raceway. The #11 FedEx Ground Toyota was low on fuel in the closing laps but had enough juice to get Hamlin across the finish line and into Victory Lane – with two teammates behind him for a 1-2-3 Joe Gibbs Racing finish. The FedEx Ground Camry was fast all weekend, and crew chief Chris Gabehart called a race strategy that allowed the team to pick up points at each stage end and be out front when the final laps ticked down. After running in the top five for most of the race, Hamlin took over the lead at the start of the third and final stage. He led for 12 laps before coming to pit road under a caution to take right-sides tires and fuel. He later passed two teammates – Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones – to regain the lead with 16 scheduled laps remaining. Despite being low on fuel, he held onto the lead for the remaining regulation laps, plus three overtime laps. Jones and Truex Jr. followed Hamlin across the finish for a 1-2-3 team sweep. This victory has now placed Hamlin as fourth in the championship standings and fourth in playoff points.

    Watkins Glen Paint Scheme Reveal: On Friday, July 26, Denny Hamlin unveiled a special FedEx Cares paint scheme in conjunction with FedEx announcing its FedEx Cares 50 by 50 initiative, which has the goal of positively impacting 50 million people by the company’s 50th anniversary in 2023. The new FedEx Cares paint scheme will showcase the successful and longstanding relationship between FedEx and Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit organization working to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries. Denny and Safe Kids will conduct a special event on Sunday, August 4, with kids from the Watkins Glen Kids Club to speak about the importance of pedestrian safety as kids get set to return to school in the coming weeks. Safe Kids Worldwide will also be featured as the “Along for the Ride” organization on the #11 car’s B-posts.

    Watkins Glen Preview: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will head next to Watkins Glen International for another weekend of road course racing, with the event scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 4. With one win to his name at The Glen, Hamlin and team will be looking for another strong showing as they seek the team’s fourth win of the 2019 Cup Series season.

    Hamlin Watkins Glen Statistics:
    Track: Watkins Glen International
    Races: 13
    Wins: 1 (2016)
    Poles: 1 (2018)
    Top-5: 3
    Top-10: 6
    Laps Led: 12
    Avg. Start: 13.2
    Avg. Finish 17.3

    Hamlin Conversation:

    Your team has been displaying some great performances these past few weeks. What has been the difference maker?

    “We did everything right to win the race in Pocono. We made the right calls, had good restarts when we needed them and overall had a really smooth race. I was doing everything I could to save fuel at the end, and we had a fast FedEx Toyota. We displayed that when we are connecting on all levels, we are a very competitive team.”

    Are you excited about going back to road course racing at Watkins Glen?

    “Road course racing is a different challenge, and our team is preparing hard to put us in the best position to win. With a strong effort at Sonoma, we are confident in our abilities and are looking forward to the challenge that awaits us at The Glen.”