Hamlin Wins Seventh Race by Surviving Talladega's Carnage

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TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – It took three overtimes and a lot of bent race cars, but in the end, Denny Hamlin won his seventh NASCAR Cup race of 2020 by holding off Matt DiBenedetto in a wild run to the finish.  It was the longest race ever run at Talladega Superspeedway, 532 miles.  Later NASCAR said they had determined that while racing   After the race, NASCAR penalized the driver of the No. 21 Ford for racing below the out of bounds line.  He official finishing position was in 21st place (agate below). It was the 44th career victory for Hamlin.

“Just a lot of attrition. We just played the strategy and the numbers game to run in the back until we were locked in. Just things worked out. We finally got one back," Hamlin said after the race. "This one was unexpected to say the least, but proud of this whole team, Toyota and everyone at JGR for bringing great race cars. Today we’re obviously thinking about JJ Damato (JGR executive) and his two kids. Really excited about this win. This was unexpected for sure.”

Hamlin is locked into the third round of the playoffs with the win. His winning pass came as he went to the apron in turn four to avoid William Byron’s car as Byron almost spun around. Byron saved the car and kept going as Hamlin ended up beating Matt DiBenedetto and Byron to the finish line.

Hamlin went from sixth to first on the final lap. Here’s how he did it.

Chris Buescher pushed DiBenedetto to the lead at the white flag. Byron got alongside Buescher and created a gap between Buescher and DiBenedetto. Hamlin then tucked in behind Byron as the top six had a gap on the rest of the field. DiBenedetto led Erik Jones and the rest of the field down the backstretch.

The top two cars got apart from each other — remember, drafting equals speed — and Hamlin was in fifth at this point. A crash happened on the backstretch as the top five cars entered turn three but NASCAR didn’t throw a caution.

Byron pushed Buescher to a pass on Jones for second and Jones blocked. That block busted the momentum Buescher and Byron had created and also slowed DiBenedetto via the draft. That then opened a hole for Hamlin to dive to the inside.

As the top four cars jockeyed for position in turns three and four, Hamlin went to the apron when DiBenedetto blocked Byron, and Byron’s car almost spun out. Hamlin stayed on the gas and got back onto the track on the exit of the fourth turn.

At that point it was a drag race to the finish as Brad Keselowski spun behind the leaders. Hamlin used the side-draft to creep ahead of both Byron and DiBenedetto in the tri-oval and get the win.

The official time of Sunday’s race was four hours and five minutes and that doesn’t include the two red flags thanks to crashes. There were 13 cautions for 54 laps in the 200-lap race. Four of those cautions were for crashes that included five cars or more. And there were cars that were involved in multiple wrecks. Oh, the race also didn’t even get a lap complete before there was a caution.  It was a typical race at this track and a typical finish.

Erik Jones was credited with the second-place finish, Ty Dillon third, Byron fourth and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five.

Heading into next weekend’s race at the Roval, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola are the four drivers in greatest danger of being eliminated from further title contention.

Next on the schedule is the Charlotte Roval, a track part road course and part high banked oval.  With so many needing a good finish or a win, one has to wonder if only Hamlin, Kurt Busch, and Kevin Harvick are the only ones who can breathe easy next week. The Roval presents new problems for the drivers.

Unofficial Results, YellaWood 500, Talladega Superspeedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 200, , , 4, 26, 5, 40, Running
2) 16, Erik Jones, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota, 200, 5, , 5, 13, , 41, Running
3) 28, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO For Your RV Chevrolet, 200, , 9, , , , 36, Running
4) 21, William Byron, No. 24 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, 200, , 6, 1, 1, , 38, Running
5) 19, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Guaranteed Rate Ford, 200, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 15, Chris Buescher, No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 200, 1, 3, 3, 15, 1, 49, Running
7) 30, Tyler Reddick #, No. 8 Cat Next Gen Dozers Chevrolet, 200, 7, , 2, 2, , 34, Running
8) 23, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford, 200, , 5, , , , 35, Running
9) 32, Brennan Poole #, No. 15 GOETTL Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 25, Ryan Preece, No. 37 Kroger Chevrolet, 200, , 8, , , , 30, Running
11) 35, Justin Haley(i), No. 77 Parts Plus Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 0, Running
12) 12, Austin Dillon (P), No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet, 200, 3, , , , , 33, Running
13) 33, Quin Houff #, No. 00 Permatex Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 4, Alex Bowman (P), No. 88 ChevyGoods/Patriot Foundation Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 37, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Trump 2020 Ford, 200, , , 1, 1, , 0, Running
16) 20, Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 36, Joey Gase(i), No. 51 JIMCO Windows/Donate Life Ford, 200, , , , , , 0, Running
18) 7, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 200, 4, 2, 4, 6, , 35, Running
19) 34, Cody Ware, No. 27 Thriv5/Jacob Construction Chevrolet, 200, , , 1, 1, , 18, Running
20) 5, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, 200, , , 2, 2, , 17, Running
21) 13, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Tuscany Ford, 200, , , 3, 10, , 16, Running
22) 10, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 200, 6, 4, 9, 41, , 27, Running
23) 3, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 198, 8, 1, 3, 6, 1, 27, Running
24) 27, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 192, , 10, 3, 10, , 14, Accident
25) 14, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, 192, , 7, 3, 10, , 16, Accident
26) 8, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 188, 2, , 10, 45, , 20, Accident
27) 6, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 188, , , , , , 10, Accident
28) 29, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Schluter Systems Ford, 188, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 17, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 133, , , 1, 1, , 8, Accident
30) 38, James Davison, No. 53 Americas Best Value Inn Chevrolet, 118, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 18, Cole Custer #, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 108, 10, , , , , 7, Accident
32) 2, Kurt Busch (P), No. 1 GEARWRENCH Chevrolet, 108, 9, , , , , 7, Accident
33) 9, Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/BlueDEF Ford, 108, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 31, * Daniel Suarez, No. 96 Team USA Toyota Camry Toyota, 108, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 39, * Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 Beard Motorsports/South Point Chevrolet, 108, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 24, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 79, , , 1, 1, , 1, Overheating
37) 11, Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Smithfiled Power Bites Ford, 57, , , 3, 9, , 1, Accident
38) 26, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hungry Jack Chevrolet, 8, , , , , , 1, Accident
39) 22, Christopher Bell #, No. 95 Rheem Toyota, 1, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs qualified

Time of Race: 4 hr, 5 min, 58 sec
Race Length: 200 laps, 532 miles
Average speed: 129.774 mph
Margin of victory: 0.086 sec

Stage 1 Top 10: 17, 22, 3, 2, 20, 9, 8, 19, 1, 41
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 2, 17, 9, 38, 24, 12, 37, 13, 43

Race Comments: Denny Hamlin won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his 44th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: 15 and 66 (multiple inspection failures) and 27 (driver change).

Caution flags: 13 for 54 laps;
Laps: 2-4 (8, 13, 43, 95 Incident in Turn 2 [None]);
10-12 (38, 47 Incident in Turn 4  [None]);
14-15 (No. 32 Stopped on the Track [None]);
27-30 (Competition Caution [None]);
59-65 (No. 3, 10, 12, 18, 88 Incident on the Backstretch [62]);
69-73 (Debris in Turn 2 [00]);
88-92 (No. 12 Incident in Turn 3 [51]);
110-113 (No. 1, 2, 3, 14, 15, 18, 37, 41, 62, 96 Incident on the Frontstretch [Red: 10:27] [77]);
122-125 (Stage 2 Conclusion [32]);
149-152 (Debris on the Track [51]);
184-187 (No. 53 Spin in Turn 4 [3]);
189-192 (No. 4, 6, 8, 18, 19, 22 Incident on the Frontstretch [Red: 10:52] [3]);
194-198 (No. 2, 3, 4, 12, 19, 20, 37, 42, 43 Incident in Turn 4 [19]).

Lead Changes: 58 among 18 drivers;
D. Hamlin (P) 1-16;
J. Logano (P) 17-18;
D. Hamlin (P) 19-26;
M. McDowell 27;
A. Almirola (P) 28-32;
R. Blaney 33;
A. Almirola (P) 34;
E. Jones 35;
R. Blaney 36;
E. Jones 37-41;
R. Blaney 42-49;
J. Logano (P) 50;
E. Jones 51;
C. Elliott (P) 52-54;
A. Almirola (P) 55-57;
C. Buescher 58-61;
K. Harvick (P) 62;
C. Elliott (P) 63-65;
B. Keselowski (P) 66-67;
C. Elliott (P) 68-69;
C. Buescher 70-74;
E. Jones 75;
C. Buescher 76-81;
E. Jones 82-86;
M. DiBenedetto 87-88;
C. Ware 89;
C. Elliott (P) 90-106;
J. Johnson 107;
C. Elliott (P) 108-113;
J. Logano (P) 114-116;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 117;
T. Reddick # 118;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 119-121;
K. Harvick (P) 122;
D. Hamlin (P) 123;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 124-125;
B. Keselowski (P) 126;
T. Reddick # 127;
B. Keselowski (P) 128;
B. Wallace 129-134;
B. Keselowski (P) 135-136;
J. Logano (P) 137-148;
T. Hill(i) 149;
J. Logano (P) 150-152;
W. Byron 153;
J. Logano (P) 154-158;
C. Elliott (P) 159;
J. Logano (P) 160;
C. Elliott (P) 161;
B. Wallace 162;
J. Logano (P) 163-166;
C. Elliott (P) 167-169;
J. Logano (P) 170-179;
B. Wallace 180-182;
J. Logano (P) 183-186;
M. DiBenedetto 187;
C. Elliott (P) 188-192;
M. DiBenedetto 193-199;
D. Hamlin (P) 200.

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Tyler Reddick, No. 8

Unofficial Driver Points:
Rank, Driver, Car, Starts, GL, Points, Ldr, Nxt, Race Wins, Stage Wins, Playoff Pts 
1) Denny Hamlin (P), 11, 31, 1, 3141, 0, 0, 7, 9, 54
2) Kevin Harvick (P), 4, 31, -1, 3121, -20, 20, 9, 7, 67
3) Chase Elliott (P), 9, 31, 3, 3097, -44, 24, 2, 8, 22
4) Brad Keselowski (P), 2, 31, -1, 3094, -47, 3, 4, 7, 35
5) Martin Truex Jr. (P), 19, 31, -1, 3085, -56, 9, 1, 5, 17
6) Alex Bowman (P), 88, 31, 1, 3075, -66, 10, 1, 4, 9
7) Joey Logano (P), 22, 31, -2, 3074, -67, 1, 2, 6, 22
8) Kyle Busch (P), 18, 31, 0, 3053, -88, 21, 0, 2, 4
9) Austin Dillon (P), 3, 30, 3, 3053, -88, 0, 1, 0, 5
10) Kurt Busch (P), 1, 31, -1, 3048, -93, 5, 1, 1, 6
11) Clint Bowyer (P), 14, 31, -1, 3036, -105, 12, 0, 3, 4
12) Aric Almirola (P) 10, 31, -1, 3026, -115, 10, 0, 2, 5
13) Ryan Blaney, 12, 31, 0, 2114, -1027, 912, 1, 3, 13
14) William Byron, 24, 31, 2, 2113, -1028, 1, 1, 2, 7
15) Matt DiBenedetto, 21, 31, -1, 2108, -1033, 5, 0, 0, 0
16) Cole Custer #, 41, 31, -1, 2095, -1046, 13, 1, 0, 5
17) Jimmie Johnson, 48, 30, 0, 754, -2387, 1341, 0, 1, 0
18) Erik Jones, 20, 31, 0, 751, -2390, 3, 0, 0, 0
19) Tyler Reddick #, 8, 31, 0, 687, -2454, 64, 0, 1, 0
20) Chris Buescher, 17, 31, 0, 591, -2550, 96, 0, 1, 1
21) Christopher Bell #, 95, 31, 0, 540, -2601, 51, 0, 0, 0
22) Michael McDowell, 34, 31, 0, 529, -2612, 11, 0, 0, 0
23) Bubba Wallace, 43, 31, 0, 521, -2620, 8, 0, 0, 0
24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 47, 31, 0, 489, -2652, 32, 0, 1, 0
25) Ryan Newman, 6, 28, 1, 489, -2652, 0, 0, 0, 0
26) Matt Kenseth, 42, 27, -1, 481, -2660, 8, 0, 0, 0
27) John Hunter Nemechek #, 38, 31, 0, 476, -2665, 5, 0, 00
28) Ty Dillon, 13, 31, 0, 469, -2672, 7, 0, 0, 0
29) Ryan Preece, 37, 31, 0, 406, -2735, 63, 0, 0, 0
30) Corey LaJoie, 32, 31, 0, 359, -2782, 47, 0, 0, 0

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Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2020, Issue 10, Posted 8:51 PM, 10.04.2020