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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