Hamlin Sweeps Darlington

May 2010 – Less than six weeks removed from ACL surgery on his left knee, Denny Hamlin opted for a weekend sweep at Darlington Raceway Saturday, capturing the checkered flag in the Southern 500 for his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the season.

Hamlin also won the Nationwide Series race at Darlington on Friday night in the No. 20 Z-Line Designs/Operation Helmet Toyota to earn the weekend sweep. It is the first sweep at Darlington by a driver since Mark Martin accomplished the feat back in 1993. The victory also continued Joe Gibbs Racing’s winning ways. It was the second consecutive victory for JGR following Kyle Busch’s win in Richmond a week ago, but also the team’s fourth victory in the last six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. JGR has also won three of the last five races in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series.

Hamlin started the night in the eighth position but it didn’t take long to realize that the FedEx crew once again had a car capable of making a delivery to Victory Lane. Hamlin quickly moved into the top five and would patiently await his time to take the lead until lap 141. From there however, Hamlin was never far from the front of the field. The No. 11 FedEx Express would lead a total of four times for 104 laps on the night thanks to superb driving, outstanding strategy and well- executed pit stops by Mike Ford and the crew. An outstanding two- tire stop by the crew on lap 344 would allow Hamlin to restart the race from the top spot on lap 347 and from there he would pull away from the field over the final 20 laps to earn his third victory of the season.

"Great race car," Hamlin said in Victory Lane. "Congratulations to [crew chief] Kevin Kidd. This is his first win with Joe Gibbs Racing after taking over for Dave Rogers. When you have a car that drives as good as this one did [Friday], it makes your job a whole lot easier."

The famed track known as the Lady in Black was not kind to Kyle Busch in Friday’s practice or qualifying sessions as contact with the wall ultimately forced the team to pull out the backup car for the race. Thus Busch would have to start his No. 18 Doublemint Toyota in the back of the field in the 42nd position. Amazingly Busch would waste very little time in bringing his Camry through the field. A combination of skilled driving and pit strategy would have Busch inside the top ten around lap 100 and running in the seventh position by lap 125. On lap 206, Busch would complete his run from the back of the field to the lead by passing Jamie McMurray to claim the top spot. Busch would lead twice on the night for a total of 29 laps. The race would come down to the final restart on lap 347 with Busch positioned second behind his teammate Hamlin. Unfortunately the handle on the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota suddenly tightened up considerably and caused Busch to lose several spots over the final 20 laps. He would still go on to earn a solid seventh-place finish.

Meanwhile Joey Logano started the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota in the 13th position and would battle tight conditions through the race’s early laps. Trouble would first find Logano on lap 53 when the No. 20 Home Depot would take a spin and make contact with the inside wall causing damage to the front end of the car. Multiple trips down pit road would allow the Home Depot crew to make the necessary repairs but by the time he returned to the track Logano would find himself two laps off the pace. The team would fight the rest of the night and appeared close to earning their way back onto the lead lap when trouble would strike again. Feeling as if the right front tire was going down Logano came down pit road a few laps before his normally scheduled stop. As he exited pit road and began to work his way back up to speed in traffic he would spin once again. The caution that ensued would further hurt his chances as it allowed the leaders to pit for the final time and when the dust settled the No. 20 Home Depot Camry would be four laps down. Logano would have to settle for a 27th -place finish.

Jamie McMurray finished the race second behind Hamlin, while Kurt Busch was third, Jeff Gordon fourth, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top five. There were 20 lead changes among 11 different drivers and 11 cautions for 56 laps. Kyle Busch remains third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, while Hamlin moved into the sixth position. Logano dropped two spots and is currently 19th in the standings.

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