In what can best be described as NASCAR’s version of March Mayhem, Denny Hamlin survived a bump and run from Brad Keselowski on the final lap and held on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver held off a hard charging Keselowski to score his 25th career win and his fifth victory at NASCAR’s shortest track. The win was Hamlin’s first since last May at Talladega last May.
“Hats off to Brad–he had an option, and he took the latter.” said Hamlin. “So thank him for that… We had some good short-track racing those last few laps.”
Hamlin overcame a penalty during the races 6th caution on lap 165 when a crewmember let a tire roll away from their pit stall. Hamlin was forced to restart in the back of the longest line and restarted 21st.
He battled back though and took the lead for the final time with 30 laps to go. Hamlin led 91 total laps on the day. MORE>>>
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.
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