Denny Hamlin and his crew score victory in All-Star race

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 16: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 16, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 16:  Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 16, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina.  (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC – MAY 16: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 16, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin turned two tires into a million dollar payday Saturday night holding off Kevin Harvick in the final 10-lap segment of the 110-lap race to win the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  In a race that highlights NASCAR’s pit crews, it was Hamlin’s crew who won him the pole earlier Saturday and got him out first on the final pit stops to score the first All-Star win for Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.

“You want to win the Daytona 500,” Hamlin said. “You want to win the Brickyard 400. You want to win the Coke 600. You want to be an All-Star. It’s just an unbelievable experience. We just didn’t have a car that was fast enough to run with those guys until Dave (Rogers, crew chief) made that last adjustment and of course the clean air, but that pit crew – that’s all I can say – they carried me all day long and they got us this victory.”

Hours earlier, Hamlin won the pole in the unique qualifying format that featured hot laps and a shot down pit road with no speed limit for a four-tire pit stop.  He was later able to improve his average finish by taking only two tires and leading to the green in the fourth and final 25-lap segment and finishing sixth.  The order the field pitted prior to the final 10 laps was based on the average finish of the first four segments with all cars required to take four tires. Hamlin came in fifth, left the pits first and went on to the win.

“My pit crew just did an amazing job,” Hamlin said. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.