Hamlin streaks to NASCAR Busch Series win
After a cycle of green-flag pit stops 15 laps beyond the halfway point in Saturday's CARFAX 250 at Michigan International Speedway, Denny Hamlin broke open a two-car duel with Matt Kenseth to win his second Busch Series race of the year and the fourth of his career.
Hamlin crossed the finish line 6.998 seconds ahead of Kenseth, who lost ground steadily over the final 50 laps of the 125-lap event at the 2.0-mile "D"-shaped oval. Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Jeff Burton and polesitter Greg Biffle.
Brian Vickers, Paul Menard, Todd Bodine, Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.
Hamlin's crew worked overtime to repair his car after the driver scraped the wall during practice on Friday. The No. 20 Chevy showed no ill effects from the accident, and with the temperature down about 12 degrees from Friday, the car responded favorably to the cooler weather.
"I can't say enough for these guys putting the car back together," Hamlin said. "It seemed like the car really adapted to these cooler conditions. I don't know whether it played into our hands or not, but it's hard to imagine that the car could have been any better."
It didn't take long for Hamlin and Kenseth to establish themselves as the class of the field. Kenseth took the top spot for the first time on Lap 16 when he passed Vickers as their two cars approached the start/finish line.
Hamlin grabbed his first lead under caution following points leader Carl Edwards' spin on Lap 25. The driver of the No. 20 Chevrolet won the race off pit road, but Kenseth regained the point on Lap 33 moments before Tony Stewart's solo spin brought out the third caution of the race.
Eight circuits after a restart on Lap 37, Hamlin caught Kenseth and passed the driver of the No. 17 Ford through Turns 1 and 2. But Kenseth regained the top spot on Lap 58, only to surrender it again on Lap 68, when Hamlin went to the front for good by surging ahead of Kenseth at the stripe.
Hamlin sealed the victory with a green-flag pit stop on Lap 77 that opened his advantage to more then two seconds over the race runner-up. The gap widened considerably before Hamlin took the checkered flag.
"I had a lot of fun racing with Denny," Kenseth said. "Through the middle part of the race, we were about the same. We just tightened up there a little bit at the end with the overcast (sky). We got too far behind there on that final pit stop and couldn't make it up."
Results
Pos Driver Laps Status
1 Denny Hamlin 125 Running
2 Matt Kenseth 125 Running
3 Kevin Harvick 125 Running
4 Jeff Burton 125 Running
5 Greg Biffle 125 Running
6 Brian Vickers 125 Running
7 Paul Menard 125 Running
8 Todd Bodine 125 Running
9 Casey Mears 125 Running
10 Clint Bowyer 125 Running
11 Jamie McMurray 125 Running
12 Jason Leffler 125 Running
13 Brad Keselowski # 125 Running
14 Mark Martin 124 Running
15 Brad Coleman # 124 Running
16 David Reutimann 124 Running
17 J.J. Yeley 124 Running
18 Bobby Labonte 124 Running
19 Marcos Ambrose # 124 Running
20 Reed Sorenson 124 Running
21 David Ragan # 124 Running
22 Jason Keller 124 Running
23 Mike Wallace 124 Running
24 David Stremme 124 Running
25 Sam Hornish Jr. 124 Running
26 Stephen Leicht 124 Running
27 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 124 Running
28 Carl Edwards 124 Running
29 David Gilliland 123 Running
30 Tony Stewart 123 Running
31 Kasey Kahne 123 Running
32 Kelly Bires 123 Running
33 Brian Keselowski 123 Running
34 Kyle Krisiloff # 122 Running
35 Ward Burton 122 Running
36 Jeff Green 122 Running
37 Steve Wallace 122 Running
38 Bobby East 121 Running
39 Mark Green 108 Engine
40 Brent Sherman 65 Electrical
41 Morgan Shepherd 22 Suspension
42 Kevin Hamlin 7 Accident
43 Kertus Davis 6 Electrical