Hamlin goes back-to-back to win Daytona 500

Denny Hamlin with his daughters after third Daytona 500 win

Denny Hamlin scored the victory in Monday’s rain delayed Daytona 500 at Daytona International Raceway, but it came with a muted celebration after a vicious crash marred the final moments of the event.

Former Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman was taken to an area hospital after a grinding crash coming to the checkered flag. His team said in a release that he is currently in serious condition with non-life threatening injuries.

Hamlin was in third coming to the checkered flag when leader Ryan Newman and Ryan Blaney tangled coming to the flag.

Newman’s car was turned into the outside wall, where it flipped over and was then hit in the roof by the car of Corey LaJoie.

Newman’s car slid on its roof in a shower of sparks. It came to rest at the exit of pit road, where rescue crews were quickly on the scene.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]NASCAR President and CEO Steve O'Donnell updated the media just after 10 pm Monday night with a statement from Roush Fenway Racing

"Ryan Newman is being treated at Halifax Medial Center," the statement read. "He is in serious condition, but doctors have indicated his injuries are not life threatening.

"We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and ask that you respect the privacy of Ryan and his family during this time."

"We're grateful for the news about Ryan," said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports. "We had been waiting for information just like everyone else, so to hear some positive news tonight is a relief. Ryan has been an important part of the Roush Fenway and Ford NASCAR program this past year, and he is so respected for being a great competitor by everyone in the sport. The entire Ford family is sending positive thoughts for his recovery, but our first thoughts remain with his family and his team."

LaJoie was uninjured in the accident.

“I heard he (Newman) went straight to the hospital," LaJoie said. “That’s obviously scary. I got a big push there that last coming to the white. I don’t know who was pushing me and I kind of stalled out and I don’t know who hooked Newman. I was hoping he would kind of bounce off the fence to the left, but he didn’t and I hit him. I don’t know exactly where I hit him. I haven’t seen a replay. It was some scary stuff. Don’t get me wrong. My car was on fire. My seat belts grabbed all sorts of areas, but it was a good day for us. I hope Ryan is okay."

Meanwhile, Hamlin edged out Blaney at the flag stand by inches to score the win.

It’s his second straight Daytona 500 victory – making him the fourth ever NASCAR Cup Series driver to win back-to-back runnings of the Great American Race, joining Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Sterling Marlin with that record.

It’s also the third career Daytona 500 win for Hamlin.

“I think we take for granted sometimes how safe these cars are. We’re praying for Ryan (Newman)," a subdued Hamlin said after the race. “Worked really well with Ryan through this whole race. Obviously, he got turned right there. Proud of our whole FedEx team.

“I don’t even know what to say, so unexpected. I knew they were going to come with a big run there. My job was to just make sure I didn’t put a block up where they would wreck me so I could make it to another corner. We got to the 12 (Ryan Blaney’s) bumper and got the push from there. I knew I was going to give him a big run. The race wasn’t over and obviously it worked out well for us there at the end."

Hamlin celebrates with his Joe Gibbs Toyota Racing crew

Blaney tied his best result in the Daytona 500, having also finished second back in 2017. His thoughts were on Newman after the race.

“We pushed Newman there to the lead and then we got a push from the 11 (Hamlin)," Blaney said. “I kind of went low and he blocked that and so I was committed to pushing him to the win and have a Ford win it. I don’t know. We just got the bumpers hooked up wrong and I turned him. I hope he is alright. It looked pretty bad. I was trying to push him to the win. I don’t like saying that things just happen because I feel really bad about it. It was a close one. I just hope Ryan is alright."

After being delayed from Sunday due to rains that hit the Daytona International Speedway 20 laps into the 200 lap event, the race restarted just after 4 pm Monday.

While the first two segments of the event ran mostly incident free, with Chase Elliott and Hamlin winning the segments respectively, it was the final 70 laps of the event that saw carnage break out.

With drivers battling back and forth for the lead, and teams playing our varying pit strategies, all of those plans went out the window when a crash among the leaders slowed the action.

It was triggered as Brad Keselowski and Newman battled for the lead, when Keselowski’s Ford was turned into the outside wall on the backstretch off of Aric Almirola’s front bumper. That triggered a grinding crash that gathered up some 16 cars, including Jimmie Johnson, Darrell Wallace, Jr., Martin Truex, Jr., Matt DiBenedetto, David Ragan, Alex Bowman and Ryan Preece, among others.

Jimmie Johnson got taken out of his last Daytona in a wreck caused by Joey Logano

Harold Hinson/HHP for Chevy

Race officials put the race under the red flag to allow for clean up.

Back under green, Newman would move back to the lead with a push from Joey Logano. Following another caution on lap 192 for a tangle between Reed Sorenson and Timmy Hill, Logano would move to the lead, with Newman battling back on the inside.

Newman would power back to the lead with four laps to go with a push from behind from Hamlin. The two were trying to build a lead, and with two laps to go, Hamlin powered around Newman to move to the point.

Moments later, more trouble broke out when Ross Chastain made contact with Ryan Preece as the two raced into turn one, sending both cars out of control and collecting several of the lead pack cars in the process. Logano, Ty Dillon, Christopher Bell were gathered up, as the race again when under the red flag to allow for clean up.

That sent the race into overtime, but a problem on the following restart between Clint Bowyer, Justin Haley and Michael McDowell sent both cars spinning, bringing out another caution flag.

On the second overtime restart, Hamlin moved to the lead, with Blaney and Newman racing side-by-side for second.

With the white flag in the air, Newman had a run on Hamlin, with Hamlin moving to block the advancing Ford.

Behind the leaders, another crash broke out, this time involving Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott. With the incident happening behind the leader, NASCAR left the race under green, allowing the leaders to race back to the checkered flag.

As they covered the final 2.5 miles of the race, Newman was able to get around Hamlin on the backstretch with a big push from behind from Blaney. That set up the run to the checkered flag, and the accident that sent Newman to the hospital.

In the media center after the race, Hamlin’s mind was on Newman.

“I mean, obviously not finding out anything about the 6 (Newman)'s wreck until essentially Jamie (Little, Fox Sports reporter) told us no start-finish interview, and so I knew it was bad. I knew him crossing the track there was a bad scenario in the first place. But yeah, it's a weird balance of excitement and happiness for yourself, but obviously someone's health and their family is bigger than any win in any sport.

“We're just hoping for the best."

3rd place for Buescher

For car owner Joe Gibbs, who now has four Daytona 500 wins, he wanted to stress that he and his team did not know immediately post-race how serious the situation with Newman was.

“When everything happened at the end of the race, I knew that there was a race, but I never even focused over there," Gibbs said. “I was focusing on our car, and everybody started celebrating around us.

“So I say to everybody out there, some people may have saw us and said, well, these guys are celebrating when there's a serious issue going on. So hopefully – I apologize to everybody, but we really didn't know.

“We got in the winner's circle, and then that's when people told us, later on in the winner's circle. So I wanted to explain that to everyone."

Chris Buescher finished in third, with Unadilla, Georgia's David Ragan in fourth, and Kevin Harvick in fifth.

Chase Elliott was credited with a 17th place finish.

Kurt Busch on Wreck

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined in crash on lap 185

WHAT WAS YOUR VIEW OF WHAT YOU SAW OUT THE FRONT WINDSHIELD?

“There was just guys wrecking and the 21(Matt DiBenedetto) came back across, and we ended up knocking the oil cooler out of our No. 1 Monster Energy Chevy. The car was handling good; the guys put a lot of work into it. The random roulette wheel took our number today and we didn’t get to the end. Lady Luck was not on our side."

WAS THERE A SENSE THAT YOU COULD FEEL THAT THEY HAD TO CREATE MOMENTUM AND LANES SO THAT ENERGY HAD TO BE FORCED IN A WAY?

“Yeah, there were a lot of cars on the lead-lap and there was a really big instability with side-drafting. With 15 laps to go, do you ride still or do you go for it? I went for it."

“We were all racing hard and we ended up knocking the oil cooler out of it. My guys prepared a really good Monster Energy Camaro and the ZL1 1LE was fast. It hooked up. I was able to go wide open. On the inside lane, Lady Luck was not on our side. And there it is, boom! That’s a roulette wheel people. The roulette wheel spins and it grabs your number and it grabbed my number. Maybe Vegas will be a little better."

Denny Hamlin, Winner

How do you describe this style of racing and the bravery the drivers have to show?

“I think we take for granted sometimes how safe these cars are. We’re praying for Ryan (Newman). Worked really well with Ryan through this whole race. Obviously, he got turned right there. Proud of our whole FedEx team. I don’t even know what to say, so unexpected. I knew they were going to come with a big run there. My job was to just make sure I didn’t put a block up where they would wreck me so I could make it to another corner. We got to the 12 (Ryan Blaney’s) bumper and got the push from there. I knew I was going to give him a big run. The race wasn’t over and obviously it worked out well for us there at the end. Proud of this whole FedEx team, Toyota, Coke, the Jordan brand. It’s great to have my girls here and the team celebrating back-to-back. I can’t even tell you what it means to me."

What is it about you and this style of racing and Daytona?

“I just feel like I’m a student to the game. I never stop learning and trying to figure out where I need to put myself at the right time. It doesn’t always work. The odds – we’ve definitely defied odds the last eight years or so to win the Daytona 500. I just trust my instincts and so far they’ve been good for me. I can’t do it without the car and making it capable for me to make those winning moves."

Take us through those final two laps.

“I knew that I got out there a little too far on the backstretch. I didn’t want to check up and it was just going to increase the run that those guys had. I knew that I wanted to give them the bottom and leave myself the top so I had some options. Great call by my spotter there, (Chris) Lambert to tuck in behind the 12 (Ryan Blaney). He told me to get behind the 12 and entering turn three I was able to link up on his bumper, similar to what I did with the 6 (Ryan Newman) and I knew I was going to give him a shot or a run was going to be massive and he was going to do something with it. I knew it wasn’t over from my perspective. When they got together, I just wanted to get as far away as I could and then once I saw the 12 coming up, I wanted to get to his right-rear like I did with the 78 a few years ago and side draft to the line. Things really worked out perfectly there for me at the end. I’m very fortunate to be in this place, but we all have to bow our heads and pray for Ryan Newman. That’s the number one thing we should all be thinking about right now."

How concerned were you that you were the sole Toyota in the closing laps?

“We’re defying odds. We’re obviously low on numbers there. There were just so many Fords, I knew that at the end of these races, people want to win for themselves. Alliances and all sound really, really good at the beginning, but in the end, it’s the Daytona 500 and we want to do everything we can to win. Everyone was battling for it there. We just ended up on the right side of it."

Results

Fin	Str	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Status
1	21	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express Toyota	209	Running
2	27	12	Ryan Blaney	Menards/Peak Ford	209	Running
3	19	17	Chris Buescher	Fastenal Ford	209	Running
4	30	36	David Ragan	Select Blinds Ford	209	Running
5	10	4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Light #PIT4BUSCH Ford	209	Running
6	29	14	Clint Bowyer	Rush/Mobil 1 Ford	209	Running
7	39	62	* Brendan Gaughan(i)	Beard Motorsports/South Point Chev	209	Running
8	36	32	Corey LaJoie	RagingBull.com Ford	209	Running
9	7	6	Ryan Newman	Koch Industries Ford	209	Running
10	8	42	Kyle Larson	Credit One Bank Chevrolet	209	Running
11	23	38	John H. Nemechek #	Citgard Ford	209	Running
12	13	3	Austin Dillon	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker OffRoad Chev	209	Running
13	33	16	* Justin Haley(i)	Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet	209	Running
14	26	34	Michael McDowell	Love's Travel Stops Ford	209	Running
15	11	43	Bubba Wallace	United States Air Force Chevrolet	209	Running
16	34	15	Brennan Poole #	SpartanGo Chevrolet	209	Running
17	25	9	Chase Elliott	NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet	209	Running
18	14	20	Erik Jones	DEWALT Toyota	208	Running
19	16	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford	207	Running
20	1	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Kroger Chevrolet	206	Running
21	17	95	Christopher Bell #	Procore Toyota	205	Accident
22	5	10	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford	205	Running
23	37	51	Joey Gase(i)	EFX Corp. Chevrolet	203	Running
24	2	88	Alex Bowman	Valvoline Chevrolet	203	Running
25	20	77	Ross Chastain(i)	AdventHealth Chevrolet	201	Accident
26	3	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford	200	Accident
27	32	66	* Timmy Hill(i)	RoofClaim.com/VSI Racing Ford	200	Accident
28	22	8	Tyler Reddick #	Caterpillar Chevrolet	199	Accident
29	31	37	Ryan Preece	Cottonelle Chevrolet	198	Accident
30	24	13	Ty Dillon	GEICO Chevrolet	198	Accident
31	40	27	* Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	192	Accident
32	15	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pros Shops Toyota	186	Accident
33	18	1	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy Chevrolet	184	Accident
34	28	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	184	Engine
35	6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Ally Chevrolet	184	Accident
36	9	2	Brad Keselowski	Discount Tire Ford	183	Accident
37	12	41	Cole Custer #	Haas Automation Ford	174	Rear End
38	38	52	BJ McLeod(i)	Ford	105	Accident
39	35	0	Quin Houff #	Jacob Construction Chevrolet	89	Accident
40	4	24	William Byron	Axalta 'Color of the Year' Chevrolet	58	Accident

# Denotes Rookie
(i) Not eligible for points
(*) Required to qualify on time

Cautions (4 for 19 Laps)
#	From	To	Tot.	Benef	Remarks
1	21	25	5		Weather {Red: Postponed}
2	60	63	4	51   	#47, 24 Incident Backstretch
3	67	71	5		Stage 1 Conclusion
4	91	95	5		#10, 00, 52 Incident Backstretch

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]