Hamlin takes another win at Michigan

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver continued to display his best form ever at NASCAR's top level, leading 126 out the race's 200 laps and keeping Richard Petty Motorsports' Kasey Kahne at bay in the final 13 laps, following a late caution for debris on the track.

Hamlin seemed to be in a league of his own since he jumped to the front for the first time on lap 52, overtaking early race leader Kurt Busch. The Penske driver reclaimed the lead when Hamlin had trouble getting back up to speed after a pitstop on lap 92, but Busch would not stay there for long.

On lap 113 Hamlin passed him again into Turn 3 and from then on he only surrendered the lead twice while pitting for fuel and tyres, getting back up front when stops cycled. Kahne initially tried to make the battle for victory a tight one but Hamlin pulled just enough of a margin to safely cross the line ahead of the field for the second week in a row.

Hamlin's win gives him another 10-point bonus, which will count towards his Chase seeding once the season enters into the deciding last ten races. He currently leads the series in number of wins with two more than reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

"It's a great accomplishment obviously to win on so many different racetracks," said Hamlin, following his 13th career win. "And to be able to unload and know that you're going to be competitive for a race win week in and week out, gives you a lot of confidence For the first time really in my career I feel that we're at that place."

Kahne finished more than a second adrift from Hamlin's Toyota, surviving some close calls on engine temperature. His car seemed to be overheating every time he drove into the pits, but luckily for him the race had only four cautions. Kahne, like all other Ford drivers, was running the new FR9 engine this weekend.

"For our first time racing it, it was a nice improvement," said Kahne about the new powerplant. "I think that bodes well for all the Ford teams. I think we will all run better now. I feel like we didn't lose 10 spots in the pits, I didn't make mistakes, we had good feedback and the adjustments on the car were good and the car stayed together. It is something for us to build on."

Busch finished third, never challenging for the lead in the second half of the race but still scoring good points that boosted him up one place to fourth in the drivers' standings.

"It seems like we lost a little bit of speed as the race went on, lost a little grip when the track rubbered in," said the Penske racer. "We made good adjustments and had solid pitstops. That's what this game is all about. This is tough. There isn't any other racing in the world where, if you're off a little bit, people are going to go by you."

Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon took fourth running solid all race long, while Stewart-Haas' Tony Stewart rounded out the top five, his result allowing him to get back in the top 12 in the standings.

Johnson was sixth and never a contender for victory at one of five tracks he has yet to win at, followed by his team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr, who was seventh in one of his best races for the past couple of months.

Points leader Kevin Harvick struggled to a 19th place finish, right ahead of JGR's Kyle Busch, who started from the back of the field and made good progress until he hit the wall out of Turn 4. Hamlin's win allowed him to close on both of them in the championship.

Pos  Driver              Car        Laps
 1.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota     200
 2.  Kasey Kahne         Ford       200
 3.  Kurt Busch          Dodge      200
 4.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  200
 5.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  200
 6.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  200
 7.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet  200
 8.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  200
 9.  Greg Biffle         Ford       200
10.  Joey Logano         Toyota     200
11.  AJ Allmendinger     Ford       200
12.  Carl Edwards        Ford       200
13.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Chevrolet  200
14.  Matt Kenseth        Ford       200
15.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota     200
16.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet  200
17.  Martin Truex Jr     Toyota     200
18.  David Reutimann     Toyota     200
19.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  200
20.  Kyle Busch          Toyota     200
21.  Elliott Sadler      Ford       200
22.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet  200
23.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet  199
24.  Jamie McMurray      Chevrolet  199
25.  Paul Menard         Ford       199
26.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge      199
27.  Brad Keselowski     Dodge      199
28.  Scott Speed         Toyota     199
29.  Bill Elliott        Ford       199
30.  David Stremme       Ford       199
31.  Travis Kvapil       Ford       199
32.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet  199
33.  Robby Gordon        Toyota     199
34.  David Ragan         Ford       198
35.  David Gilliland     Ford       197
36.  Casey Mears         Toyota     149
37.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota     66
38.  Landon Cassill      Chevrolet  51
39.  JJ Yeley            Dodge      47
40.  Kevin Conway        Ford       38
41.  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet  31
42.  Todd Bodine         Toyota     20
43.  Max Papis           Toyota     8