Hamlin takes maiden Cup win

The 25-year-old dominated the first quarter of the race, which he started from pole position, leading every green-flag lap.

However, on lap 52, his left-rear tyre exploded on the back straight, causing him to spin on to the grass.

Hamlin managed to keep the car from hitting the inside wall, but the puncture did damage the rear body of his Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

After several pitstops under caution to repair the damage, the rookie dropped back to 40th position. He and his Joe Gibbs Racing team then spent the rest of the race putting the No. 11 car back into contention, and he was in the lead by the time the race was stopped briefly, ten laps to the end.

At the restart, second-placed Kurt Busch, a winner at the track last season, was unable to challenge Hamlin, who pulled away to take victory by 1.341 seconds.

It is Hamlin's first Nextel Cup championship race victory in just 21 starts.

"This is unbelievable," an ecstatic Hamlin said afterwards. "This car was on rails all day long. We didn't have to make many changes.

"The team put an awesome car together. To come back from that blown tyre was great - I thought our race was over."

Kurt Busch finished second after a steady drive to score his best result in ten races.

Tony Stewart finished a strong third and suffered no ill-effects from his broken shoulder.

Although Stewart needed Ricky Rudd to substitute for him at last weekend's race at Dover, the lower physical demands of the 2.5-mile Pocono track meant that Stewart was able to complete the race distance himself.

Brian Vickers secured fourth - only his second top five finish of the year - to end the week on a positive note after he announced he is going to leave Hendrick Motorsports next season.

Teammate Jimmie Johnson kept his championship lead with tenth place, coming back from a drive-through penalty for speeding exiting the pits.

Jeff Gordon had a lucky escape from a big crash ten laps from the end after his brakes failed.

Gordon suddenly veered off onto the inside grass at the 200mph Turn 1, before spinning back on to the track backwards and hitting the outside wall hard on the driver's side. Gordon climbed from his car unaided.

The crash briefly stopped the race while repairs were made to the SAFER barrier.

The four-time Nextel Cup champion has now dropped out of the top ten in the points standing and the provisional Chase for the Championship positions. He has been replaced by race-winner Hamlin.

Pos  Driver               Make        Laps
 1.  Denny Hamlin         Chevrolet   200
 2.  Kurt Busch           Dodge       200
 3.  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet   200
 4.  Brian Vickers        Chevrolet   200
 5.  Matt Kenseth         Ford        200
 6.  Greg Biffle          Ford        200
 7.  Kasey Kahne          Dodge       200
 8.  Scott Riggs          Dodge       200
 9.  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet   200
10.  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet   200
11.  Ryan Newman          Dodge       200
12.  Bobby Labonte        Dodge       200
13.  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet   200
14.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Chevrolet   200
15.  J.J. Yeley           Chevrolet   200
16.  Tony Raines          Chevrolet   200
17.  Mark Martin          Ford        200
18.  Jamie McMurray       Ford        200
19.  Travis Kvapil        Chevrolet   200
20.  Elliott Sadler       Ford        200
21.  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet   200
22.  Kyle Busch           Chevrolet   200
23.  Jeremy Mayfield      Dodge       200
24.  Martin Truex Jr.     Chevrolet   199
25.  Carl Edwards         Ford        199
26.  David Stremme        Dodge       199
27.  Dave Blaney          Dodge       199
28.  Michael Waltrip      Dodge       198
29.  Joe Nemechek         Chevrolet   198
30.  Ken Schrader         Ford        197
31.  Kevin Lepage         Dodge       197
32.  Jimmy Spencer        Chevrolet   197
33.  Chad Chaffin         Ford        196
34.  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet   189
35.  Robby Gordon         Chevrolet   186
36.  Reed Sorenson        Dodge       183
37.  Jeff Green           Chevrolet   181
38.  Dale Jarrett         Ford        181
39.  Terry Labonte        Chevrolet   118
40.  Kyle Petty           Dodge        68
41.  Mike Garvey          Chevrolet    67
42.  Sterling Marlin      Chevrolet    18
43.  Casey Mears          Dodge         1