NASCAR Wrecks - Hamlin Hauls In Pocono Win
Hamlin ovecomes adversity to win at Pocono
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
June 12 Contact
Denny Hamlin finished where he started at Pocono Raceway, but oh the show he put on in between.
Hamlin staged an amazing recovery to win his first Nextel Cup Series points race Sunday.
Starting on the pole Hamlin was firmly in command of the Pocono 500, stretching out to a lead of 6 seconds and running in front for 49 of the first 50 laps.
Then on lap 51, it looked as if Hamlin’s rookie dream would come to an end. The left rear tire exploded on his Chevy, sending him into a spin. Hamlin made a remarkable save to keep the car off the wall. The left rear wheel well on his Chevy suffered heavy damage, and Hamlin limped the machine back to the pits.
The members of the Joe Gibbs Racing crew, led by crew chief Mike Ford, worked on the car, bringing Hamlin into the pits on numerous occasions and making repair after repair with Hamlin falling as low as 40th.
But the team, and driver never gave up. Hamlin rallied, snatching the lead from Greg Biffle with 37 laps to go.
"I thought we were going down the drain after that tire issue," Hamlin said. "The whole crew just kept adding little pieces to the car to try and make it better. Each piece they added made it a little bit faster until we finally got back to where we were in the beginning."
There were some tense moments as the laps wound down.
With ten laps to go, Hamlin had stretched his lead out to five seconds. Then Jeff Gordon lost the front brakes on his Chevy, slid through the grass coming into Turn 1, rocketed up and slammed hard into the turn one wall.
The crash was so hard that NASCAR was forced to display a red flag while repairs were made to the SAFER barrier and the track was cleaned. Gordon climbed from his car and after a visit to the infield care center, was able to assure everyone that he was OK.
"I don't know how, but yes, I am,” Gordon said. “I've either got a really hard head or those guys at Hendrick Motorsports just build an awesome race car because that was one of the hardest hits I've ever taken. I think we broke a right front brake rotor going into (Turn) 1. That's probably the worst thing you could ever ask for in a racecar is to have the brakes go out going into Turn 1 at Pocono.”
After a nearly 15 minute red flag period, the field took the green flag with 5 laps to go. Hamlin was able to pull away once more and scoring his first points win in just his 21st Nextel Cup start.
Although Hamlin, a native of Chesterfield Virginia, won the non-points Budweiser Shootout this past February at Daytona, his previous best points race finish was second at his home track of Richmond four races ago.
Hamlin was followed by Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth rounding out the top five.
Greg Biffle was sixth followed by Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs, Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson.
There were 7 cautions, 13 leaders and 25 lead changes on the day.
Johnson maintained his points lead, while Jeff Gordon, after his hard crash, fell out of the top ten.
‘We had another tough day,” Johnson said. “But the guys did a great job and just like last week we never gave up. We did what we needed to do and we were able to get a top 10 out of the day."
Hamlin continues his remarkable rookie season moving into the top ten in points; he now sits ninth.
“Man this team is unbelievable,” Hamlin said in victory lane. “We’re tying to get in that chase, and this is a good way to do it.”
Pocono 500 Results
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
June 12 Contact
Denny Hamlin finished where he started at Pocono Raceway, but oh the show he put on in between.
Hamlin staged an amazing recovery to win his first Nextel Cup Series points race Sunday.
Starting on the pole Hamlin was firmly in command of the Pocono 500, stretching out to a lead of 6 seconds and running in front for 49 of the first 50 laps.
Then on lap 51, it looked as if Hamlin’s rookie dream would come to an end. The left rear tire exploded on his Chevy, sending him into a spin. Hamlin made a remarkable save to keep the car off the wall. The left rear wheel well on his Chevy suffered heavy damage, and Hamlin limped the machine back to the pits.
The members of the Joe Gibbs Racing crew, led by crew chief Mike Ford, worked on the car, bringing Hamlin into the pits on numerous occasions and making repair after repair with Hamlin falling as low as 40th.
But the team, and driver never gave up. Hamlin rallied, snatching the lead from Greg Biffle with 37 laps to go.
"I thought we were going down the drain after that tire issue," Hamlin said. "The whole crew just kept adding little pieces to the car to try and make it better. Each piece they added made it a little bit faster until we finally got back to where we were in the beginning."
There were some tense moments as the laps wound down.
With ten laps to go, Hamlin had stretched his lead out to five seconds. Then Jeff Gordon lost the front brakes on his Chevy, slid through the grass coming into Turn 1, rocketed up and slammed hard into the turn one wall.
The crash was so hard that NASCAR was forced to display a red flag while repairs were made to the SAFER barrier and the track was cleaned. Gordon climbed from his car and after a visit to the infield care center, was able to assure everyone that he was OK.
"I don't know how, but yes, I am,” Gordon said. “I've either got a really hard head or those guys at Hendrick Motorsports just build an awesome race car because that was one of the hardest hits I've ever taken. I think we broke a right front brake rotor going into (Turn) 1. That's probably the worst thing you could ever ask for in a racecar is to have the brakes go out going into Turn 1 at Pocono.”
After a nearly 15 minute red flag period, the field took the green flag with 5 laps to go. Hamlin was able to pull away once more and scoring his first points win in just his 21st Nextel Cup start.
Although Hamlin, a native of Chesterfield Virginia, won the non-points Budweiser Shootout this past February at Daytona, his previous best points race finish was second at his home track of Richmond four races ago.
Hamlin was followed by Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth rounding out the top five.
Greg Biffle was sixth followed by Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs, Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson.
There were 7 cautions, 13 leaders and 25 lead changes on the day.
Johnson maintained his points lead, while Jeff Gordon, after his hard crash, fell out of the top ten.
‘We had another tough day,” Johnson said. “But the guys did a great job and just like last week we never gave up. We did what we needed to do and we were able to get a top 10 out of the day."
Hamlin continues his remarkable rookie season moving into the top ten in points; he now sits ninth.
“Man this team is unbelievable,” Hamlin said in victory lane. “We’re tying to get in that chase, and this is a good way to do it.”
Pocono 500 Results
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