Denny Hamlin Gets Emotion Filled Daytona 500 Victory
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| Denny Hamlin celebrates 2nd Daytona 500 win |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On a night when his team saluted their fallen team leader, Denny Hamlin gave them the biggest tribute possible – a Daytona 500 victory.
Racing with the memory of J.D. Gibbs on his car, including Gibbs’ favorite No. 11 on the door, Hamlin held off teammate Kyle Busch to score an emotional overtime victory in Sunday’s 61st running of the “Great American Race."
Gibbs, the president of co-founder of Joe Gibbs Racing, passed away last month after a battle with a neurological disease at the age of 49.
It gives Hamlin his second victory in the Daytona 500, coming after a winless year in 2018. It also gives JGR a sweep of the top three spots with Erik Jones finishing third – the first time that has occurred at Daytona since Hendrick Motorsports swept the top three in 1997.
“It’s amazing," Hamlin said. “I told them over the radio, I’ve been in this position so many times I can’t believe how many times I’ve been on the front row on the last restart for the Daytona 500 and I dinged myself one for four in this situation, but I guess now I’m two for five. Amazing job by this whole FedEx team."
It also comes on a night when Joe Gibbs Racing honored Gibbs on the 11th lap of the race.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]“This one is for J.D.," Hamlin said. “We are desperately going to miss him the rest of our lies. His legacy still lives on through Joe Gibbs Racing and proud to do this for them."
Team owner Joe Gibbs talked about the emotion of the win just weeks after the loss of his son.
“I got to tell you what happened right here – J.D.’s name is on that car. That’s his number 11 with Denny. He found Denny. I’m just saying what happened here is emotional for all of us and the family. Denny racing like he did right there is just unbelievable. I’m emotionally shot. I’m just saying, what happened here is really unreal. I’m just thrilled.
“I think J.D. has the best view of everything. It’s really an unbelievable experience. I don’t know how to put it into words. I just thank the Lord for letting us be a part of this."
After a trio of multi-car crashes decimated the field, leaving only 14 cars on the lead lap, it came down to a battle between Hamlin and Busch.
On the final start in overtime, Busch let Hamlin get in front of him in hopes of settling the race between the two of them. With the Fords of Joey Logano and Michael McDowell behind them, Hamlin was able to get away while Busch had to battle for second.
“They gave us the option there to just drop in front of him and I thought that was the best idea to hopefully get one of the two of our cars in victory lane," Hamlin said. “I thought it was the right decision for us to stay up top there. It was a good decision."
On the final lap, Logano was able to get to second and made a run at the leader, but Hamlin held him off. That allowed Busch to get a run on the outside to retake second, while Hamlin was able to get away and sprint to the win.
“It's first and foremost to try to make sure that we at least get a JGR car to Victory Lane," Busch said. “They didn't want to do it the previous restart, but then since he got the lead, he wanted to do it again. You know, it is what it is. Just at least we got a JGR car in Victory Lane. That's the big picture. That's what matters, and we move on."
Busch finished in second, with Jones in third, Logano in fourth, and McDowell in fifth.
The race saw a trio of multi-car crashes. The first shunt occurred on lap 191 when Paul Menard got in the Matt DiBenedetto, setting off a crash that gathered up 22 cars, including Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, Daniel Hemric and Martin Truex, Jr., among others. It resulted in a 24 minutes, 57 second red flag condition.
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| The Daytona 500 was a complete crashfest – here is one of many |
The second multi-car crash occurred on the next restart on lap 194, when Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. made contact with Kyle Larson, gathering up Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman and Brad Keselowski in the process.
The third crash came on the next restart attempt with two laps to go, when Clint Bowyer made an attempt at a three-wide pass on the backstretch. Bowyer moved up the track before he was clear, making contact with McDowell and turning Bowyer up into William Byron. That set off the crash that gathered up Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Landon Cassill and Brendan Gaughan.
That resulted in the second red flag of the event, which lasted 14 minutes and 41 seconds.
An earlier multi-car crash on pit road left the car of seven time series champion Jimmie Johnson with heavy damage.
It occurred as several cars were coming to pit road for green flag pit stops. The car of Cody Ware made contact with B.J. McLeod, gathering up the car of Tyler Reddick. That sent Reddick’s car sideways into the back of Johnson’s Chevy. Johnson would lose two laps due to repairs, but would rebound to finish ninth.
“Yeah, I’ve never been hit like that on pit lane," Johnson said. “That was the start of the craziness. I don’t know if that kept us out of trouble and got us a good finish or what, but certainly not something that we were anticipating. That just set off a chain reaction of events from there."
Winner's Quotes
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| A happy Denny Hamlin |
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What do you have to say right now to all of the Denny doubters?
“It’s amazing. I told them over the radio, I’ve been in this position so many times I can’t believe how many times I’ve been on the front row on the last restart for the Daytona 500 and I dinged myself one for four in this situation, but I guess now I’m two for five. Amazing job by this whole FedEx team. I’ve got to thank Toyota, everyone that helped put this race car on the track. Coca-Cola, The Jordan Brand – Michael Jordan’s birthday is today, it’s pretty amazing. Everybody at Little Big Burger as well. Just a great day overall for our race team. We’ve got a rookie team here for me. A lot of these guys are brand new and some of them are still on this team. We have all of these FedEx executives here. It’s just the greatest day."
What an incredible win it was for you.
“The rebranding of the car as well, to bring back the white and the FedEx, it’s just one of those where it just felt like it was meant to be honestly. Our car was really good. We got a little mixed up there in the middle of the race where we couldn’t get the fuel in the car, but other than that, we were running up front all day and put ourselves in great position and just capitalized at the end. Hats off to Kyle (Busch) as well. I know he was eagerly wanting his first victory here in the Daytona 500, but today it just wasn’t going to be tonight."
You talked to your crew chief about what to do on that restart. Talk about making that decision on what to do to get in front of Kyle Busch on that last restart.
“When he (Kyle Busch) gave me the top, I literally was doing a little cheer in my mind thinking, my playbook said always choose the top no matter what and no matter who is behind you. It doesn’t matter. That’s what I’m saying. I’ve been on the front row so many restarts and lost it because I’ve been on the bottom. I just felt like when we got the opportunity to jump up there, obviously there were circumstance that happened behind us to allow us to be in front of the caution, but I felt pretty good about being on the top line there and then obviously we thought it was the best idea for us – when he (Kyle Busch) asked about me pulling down in front of him on the final restart and I was good with that because I thought between him and the 22 (Joey Logano), those were going to be the two best pushers and it worked out well for us."
What does J.D. Gibbs mean to you?
“The whole family – they did so much for me over the course of my career. This one is for J.D. We are desperately going to miss him the rest of our lies. His legacy still lives on through Joe Gibbs Racing and proud to do this for them."
A new crew chief with Chris Gabehart this season. What is it about him that you believed in him and getting you back in Victory Lane?
“He’s a short track racer. That’s what I love about him. He’s just got that short track mentality. Same as (Mike) “Wheels" (Wheeler). Wheels car ran pretty damn good today too. It’s just amazing to be in this position and thank FedEx, Toyota, all these partners, Coca-Cola, The Jordan Brand, Monster Energy, everyone who put this car on the race track. This is amazing. I don’t want to tear this one up because I want to put it back in my house."
What’s different about this celebration now that you’ve won the Daytona 500 twice?
“I don’t know. I’m just going to enjoy it more. I mean I think I was so dumbfounded about everything that happened the first time with the photo finish and everything. This one lets me soak it in a little bit more. I’m going to have a terrible hangover tomorrow, but I’m going to enjoy it the rest of my life."
Talk about that last restart and choosing the outside lane.
“They gave us the option there to just drop in front of him and I thought that was the best idea to hopefully get one of the two of our cars in victory lane. I thought it was the right decision for us to stay up top there. It was a good decision. We actually got a really good run up there when we came up in three and four. I thought he was going to get position on us, but we just backed up to him just enough to keep him at bay. Proud of not only our team, but his team as well and having a great shot at the Daytona 500. I know this was as close as he came. He was a great teammate all day and we worked well together."
What did it take for you and crew chief Chris Gabehart to get back to the front?
“We had to take no tires there on the second to last stop just to get our track position back. We had a little bit older tires than the other guys, but I knew that it was the right call because track position was going to mean the most for us. As the track cooled, the tires weren’t going to mean as much. It was definitely the right decision for us."
J.D. Gibbs is very special to you and we lost him recently – can you put that into perspective?
“No, I really can’t. We have his whole family here. He meant a lot to me and it’s hard for me not getting choked up because I’ve been choked up about 100 times about it. Just to have Melissa (Gibbs) and all the kids here, it’s just crazy. Joe and his whole family and what they’ve done for my career – to bring them back to victory lane again is just amazing."
Two-time Daytona 500 champion, what does that mean to you?
“I’ve been in this position – last year was in this position, but I chose the inside lane. It was the wrong decision. I knew my playbook and the top was the place to be and it worked out well."
JOE GIBBS, team owner of Joe Gibbs Racing
You finished 1-2-3, it can’t get much better than that.
“I got to tell you what happened right here – J.D.’s name is on that car. That’s his number 11 with Denny. He found Denny. I’m just saying what happened here is emotional for all of us and the family. Denny racing like he did right there is just unbelievable. I’m emotionally shot. I’m just saying, what happened here is really unreal. I’m just thrilled. I think J.D. has the best view of everything. It’s really an unbelievable experience. I don’t know how to put it into words. I just thank the Lord for letting us be a part of this. I hope J.D. – I hope people will go to JDGibbsLegacy.com and see that video. I think it could be life changing for them."
DAVID WILSON, president of TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development)
What does this win mean for Toyota?
“This was extra special. We know how hard it is to win this race, this plate racing today. We’ve been talking about it all week. Everybody has been picking one of our competitors to win because we just don’t have the numbers, but the neat thing is we set up strategy and we worked the strategy. I’ve always said plate racing is team racing. The winner of this doesn’t win as an individual, he wins as part of a team. To have Toyotas go 1-2-3 when we only have five that frankly are capable of winning is extremely gratifying."
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| William Byron leads before a sellout crowd of 101,000 |
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Chocolate Bar Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Can you describe the last few laps and your disappointment with a second-place finish?
“I just was trying to work on a run with the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and you can never trust those behind you so they all scattered and went around me and I had to work my way back up there. Just wasn’t meant to be today obviously. It’s frustrating for sure. We had a great car. The guys at Joe Gibbs Racing and everybody at Toyota – I think all of them and I feel bad for everybody at M&M’s and Interstate Batteries and Snickers and Skittles and all of those that support me and try to get this 18 car to victory lane. It’s nice to see a teammate win. It’s very, very bittersweet obviously, but I guess we’ll come back and try again."
Do you wish you would’ve just raced it out on that final restart?
“Yes and no. Again, trying to make sure at least one of us got to victory lane is first and foremost. After that you try to go race it out and see what you can do for yourself and for your team. There wasn’t enough cars out there really. There was six cars running at the end. I don’t know that anything would’ve been any different really if anything would’ve materialized. I think we all would’ve been stuck side-by-side given if I would’ve been on the outside or something like that. It’s so hard to tell. I don’t know how it would’ve played out, but I’m not going to worry about it."
Do you feel you had a chance to win if you didn’t let Denny Hamlin go in front of you?
“I don’t know. Strength is in numbers. We were trying to at least protect one of our cars being able to get to victory lane and I felt like we were able to do that with being able to do what we did on that last restart. Overall, it’s certainly bittersweet. It’s awesome to see a JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) Camry in victory lane for Joe and J.D. (Gibbs) and everything that’s kind of gone on this offseason with all of that, but it’s very, very bittersweet for everybody at M&M’s, Interstate Batteries, Skittles and Snickers and all those that support us and all my team guys that work so hard to try to get to victory lane for us and try to get our Daytona 500 victory. He’s (Denny Hamlin) got two, I’ve got none, but that’s the part of it sometimes and we just need to move on and go the next time."
Did you think you were in the right spot on the final restart?
“No, we made a deal with the 11 (Denny Hamlin) to let him down. In doing that it was strength in numbers trying to keep us all together and there was not enough cars for anything to materialize because there was six cars out there so I probably knew better but took that chance to make sure one of us won."
Was it chaotic out there toward the end of the race?
“Everybody is trying to get positions and trying to move people out of the way and people don’t give and take anymore when it comes down to that part of the race. They just drive through everybody and don’t care."
Did you think you had something for Denny Hamlin on that last lap?
“I was trying to get a push from the 22 (Joey Logano) and he just scattered and went around me so there was no help from behind. Pretty much knew that it’s every man for himself anyways. I tried to make something happen and just nothing came about."
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How were you able to come back and finish third tonight?
“It was a weird day. The Sport Clips Camry had a lot of speed in it early and we kept finding ourselves towards the front. We were up there where we wanted to be with Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin) and I’m like, ‘Man, we’re in a great spot to get to the last 15 laps or so and race for it.’ I don’t know. We just lost fuel pressure and we came to pit road and came back. We didn’t change anything, fired it up and went back. Got back on the lead, got caught up in a wreck and got pretty significant amount of damage and we were just trying to get it fixed enough to get minimum speed. As more of the race happened and more and more people wrecked we found ourselves upfront. A day of never giving up and never giving in and it worked out great. It’s definitely the most perseverance I’ve had in a race in NASCAR. I had a lot of fun."
Do you enjoy racing at Daytona winning here in July and now a third-place finish in the Daytona 500?
“Definitely the last two times have been pretty good to me. I wish we would’ve had one more lap. It was actually really fast still and I was having a lot of fun and wish we could’ve got up there with Kyle (Busch) and Denny (Hamlin). Great for JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) with a one-two-three. You never would’ve guessed we would’ve made it one-two-three there by the end, but an awesome day and a good start to the season."
Results
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MANUF | BEHIND | LAPS | LAST LAP | STATUS |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 0.000s | 207 | 191.245 | Running |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 0.138 | 207 | 191.318 | Running |
| 3 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 0.294 | 207 | 191.963 | Running |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 0.352 | 207 | 190.844 | Running |
| 5 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 0.397 | 207 | 191.616 | Running |
| 6 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevy | 0.498 | 207 | 191.840 | Running |
| 7 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | 0.677 | 207 | 191.677 | Running |
| 8 | 47 | Ryan Preece # | Chevy | 0.690 | 207 | 189.877 | Running |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevy | 0.751 | 207 | 190.730 | Running |
| 10 | 15 | Ross Chastain(i) | Chevy | 1.322 | 207 | 188.937 | Running |
| 11 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevy | 1.976 | 207 | 186.745 | Running |
| 12 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 5.446 | 207 | 180.007 | Running |
| 13 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 19.873 | 207 | 155.111 | Running |
| 14 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 20.452 | 207 | 164.899 | Running |
| 15 | 96 | * Parker Kligerman(i) | Toyota | -2 | 205 | 178.706 | Running |
| 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevy | -2 | 205 | 116.988 | Running |
| 17 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevy | -6 | 200 | 35.031 | Accident |
| 18 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Ford | -7 | 200 | 182.024 | Running |
| 19 | 51 | BJ McLeod(i) | Chevy | -7 | 200 | 168.416 | Running |
| 20 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | -7 | 199 | 84.177 | Accident |
| 21 | 24 | William Byron | Chevy | -8 | 198 | 69.592 | Accident |
| 22 | 40 | Jamie McMurray | Chevy | -8 | 198 | 70.828 | Accident |
| 23 | 62 | * Brendan Gaughan(i) | Chevy | -9 | 197 | 105.076 | Accident |
| 24 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevy | -10 | 196 | 69.601 | Accident |
| 25 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevy | -11 | 196 | 177.009 | Accident |
| 26 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | -12 | 194 | 70.824 | Accident |
| 27 | 31 | * Tyler Reddick(i) | Chevy | -15 | 191 | 115.718 | Accident |
| 28 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | -16 | 190 | 68.891 | Accident |
| 29 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | -16 | 190 | 69.286 | Accident |
| 30 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | -16 | 190 | 69.598 | Accident |
| 31 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | -16 | 190 | 69.748 | Accident |
| 32 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | -16 | 190 | 70.114 | Accident |
| 33 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | -16 | 190 | 70.370 | Accident |
| 34 | 8 | Daniel Hemric # | Chevy | -16 | 190 | 71.169 | Accident |
| 35 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | -16 | 190 | 71.020 | Accident |
| 36 | 36 | Matt Tifft # | Ford | -16 | 190 | 71.500 | Accident |
| 37 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevy | -16 | 190 | 72.006 | Accident |
| 38 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Chevy | -37 | 169 | 173.177 | Accident |
| 39 | 52 | Cody Ware # | Chevy | -51 | 155 | 186.097 | Accident |
| 40 | 27 | * Casey Mears | Chevy | -102 | 104 | 195.067 | Accident |
# Denotes Rookie
(i) Not Eligible For Points
(*) Required To Qualify On Time
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