Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
Coming into Sunday’s 58th running of the Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin had accomplished everything there is to accomplish during Speedweeks.
Hamlin who is one of NASCAR’s premier talents on restrictor plate tracks had won three Sprint Unlimiteds and one Can-Am Duel race. All that was missing was a Harley J.Earl trophy as winner of the Daytona 500.
Leading a race high 95 laps, Hamlin was finally able to cross NASCAR’s biggest race off his bucket list after passing his teammate Matt Kenseth on the final lap, and then edging Martin Truex Jr. in ha drag race to the line by just .011 seconds to claim the victory behind the wheel of his No.11 FedEx Toyota.
“This is a team win. My teammates did an amazing job working together all day”. said Hamlin. “I don’t know where that came from or how it happened. I can’t even figure out what I did. It just came together and I got the run off of turn four. It wouldn’t been possible with everybody sticking together throughout the race”.
For Hamlin’s crew chief Mike Wheeler, it marks his first Sprint Cup win on the pit box in his first race. Needless to say, he was emotional post race.
“I can’t believe it. I thought we had a good shot about halfway”. Wheeler said. “The teammates were working good together and I thought we had a shot. I thought we gave it away with the pit error and with two to go, he said that we’d have a team win. I didn’t think we’d have a shot. I just can’t believe it”.
Martin Truex Jr. would settle for second, however the disappointment was evident post race.
“I had the lead from the start of Daytona on the wall – it couldn’t had been 20 feet from the wall”. Truex said. “I probably should’ve ran him up a little more but thought we were close enough that we could keep him back there. Really proud of everyone and the teamwork with the JGR guys. That was a big step in making sure we kicked the relationship off to the right start. We’re going to continue to work hard at making sure they know that we’re team players”.
After missing last year’s Daytona 500, Kyle Busch was a major threat all day wheeling his No.18 M&M’s Toyota to a third place finish.
“Denny took my idea sooner than I did and for me to jump up there, I don’t think I would’ve been able to protect my spot with the momentum so I was stuck with where I was”. Busch said. “It was a day of Toyota Camrys up front. We developed a plan that seemed to work. I wish it was our Camry in victory lane, but you can’t be greedy”.
Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five. Joey Logano was sixth followed by Kyle Larson, Regan Smith, Austin Dillon, and Kurt Busch.
Matt Kenseth who was leading on the last lap and had led forty laps on the afternoon was shuffled back to 14th after getting passed by Hamlin and Truex.
“They don’t get much more crushing than that”. Kenseth said. “I have to thanks Joe Gibbs Racing; these Camrys were defiantly fast. That was the position that I wanted to be in. I saw Denny with the run, knew he’d go around with the run and went up to block him – and it just brought me around with the momentum that he had”.
While Hendrick Motorsports was fast throughout the weekend leading up to Speedweeks, two of their heavy hitters fell out of the race after getting loose in the draft. Pole sitter Chase Elliott got loose in the middle of three-wide, coming across Carl Edwards’ bumper before sliding across the asphalt into the grass, causing heavy damage to his Chevrolet. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the first Can-Am Duel on Thursday, would get loose while trying to side draft off of Dillon, sliding down into the inside wall for heavy damage to his Chevrolet, as well.
