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Loudon NASCAR: Denny Hamlin takes dominant victory

Denny Hamlin claimed his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup win of the season by dominating Sunday's Chase round at New Hampshire

The result was Joe Gibbs Racing's 100th series victory.

Starting from 28th place after a disappointing qualifying, having dominated practice on Friday and Saturday, Hamlin took 94 laps to climb through the field and take the lead from his JGR team-mate Kyle Busch.

From then it was almost plain sailing for the 31-year-old, who controlled the race. He led 193 of the 300 laps through pure pace and the right strategy.

With 28 laps remaining, Hamlin held a seven-second lead over five-time champion Jimmie Johnson when a caution for debris gave the Hendrick driver a shot at the lead. But from the restart it was clear nobody could deny the #11 Toyota victory.

"We had the goal of getting up to the top 10 by lap 100 but I just took my time getting through traffic," said Hamlin, who moved up to third in the Chase standings after his third win in the last five races.

"No matter how fast your car is in practice there's no guarantee for the race. I was a little nervous about that, how the conditions were going to change but [crew chief] Darian [Grubb] gave me a lightning-fast car today.

"My job was relatively easy, just making sure I didn't make any enemies on my way to the front."

Johnson also recovered from a less than ideal qualifying, having been only 20th fastest in Friday's session.

During the second caution on lap 128 Johnson was one of several drivers to pit for two tyres while Hamlin was among a handful who stayed out. From then the Californian looked capable at times of keeping up with Hamlin's pace once he got back in the top three, but he did not have enough to put his rival under pressure during the final restart.

"We had a great race car, just not an amazing car like the #11 [had]," said Johnson, now the Chase leader following back-to-back second places.

"We were best in class today; we did a great job. We really expected the #11 to be tough here today, and he was. I was telling the guys on the radio on the way in, to only leave seven points on the table in two races is pretty good."

Jeff Gordon rebounded from his poor finish at Chicagoland to take third from pole position but he still remains at the bottom of the play-off standings.

Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer, who made the most of a two-tyre final stop while most of the leaders went for a full set, finished fourth behind him.

Hendrick's Kasey Kahne carried his momentum from last week by finishing fifth, which allows him to maintain his fifth place in the Chase standings behind reigning champion Tony Stewart, who led early on for 38 laps and finished seventh.

Penske's Brad Keselowski barely had the speed for a top-10 finish and following a two-tyre change at his last pitstop he was able to hold on to sixth, giving up his Chase lead.

The Roush Fenway drivers had yet another average day, Matt Kenseth finishing only 14th with Greg Biffle four places behind him at the flag as the lowest finisher among Chase contenders.

Results - 300 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 2h43m02.000s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet               + 2.675s
 3.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 4.980s
 4.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                   + 6.895s
 5.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 7.393s
 6.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                     + 7.895s
 7.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet           + 8.661s
 8.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                     + 9.197s
 9.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                   + 9.758s
10.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet          + 11.084s
11.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet             + 11.482s
12.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet             + 11.737s
13.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet              + 12.413s
14.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford               + 12.687s
15.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet             + 14.652s
16.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet         + 14.845s
17.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                  + 15.299s
18.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford               + 15.882s
19.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford               + 19.021s
20.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota              + 1 lap
21.  Sam Hornish Jr      Penske Dodge                      + 1 lap
22.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet       + 1 lap
23.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                       + 2 laps
24.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                       + 2 laps
25.  Kurt Busch          Phoenix Chevrolet                + 2 laps
26.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 2 laps
27.  Landon Cassill      BK Toyota                        + 2 laps
28.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                     + 2 laps
29.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                   + 3 laps
30.  David Reutimann     Baldwin Chevrolet                + 4 laps
31.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                        + 4 laps
32.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                   + 4 laps
33.  Mike Olsen          Front Row Ford                  + 11 laps

Retirements:

     Stephen Leicht      Circle Sport Chevrolet           151 laps
     David Stremme       Inception Toyota                 145 laps
     Casey Mears         Germain Ford                     100 laps
     Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                      97 laps
     Scott Speed         Leavine Ford                      88 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                      78 laps
     Tony Raines         Baldwin Chevrolet                 68 laps
     JJ Yeley            Max Q Chevrolet                   29 laps
     Reed Sorenson       Humphrey Smith Chevrolet          21 laps
     Kelly Bires         Go Green Ford                     20 laps

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