Hamlin Wins Again: This Time For Points
Sunday, June 11th, 2006 6:13pm CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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[thumb:164:r:s=1:l=x]Denny Hamlin won his second feature of the year, and his first ever Nextel Cup points event at Pocono this afternoon. Hamlin’s car was on rails all day, and after leading almost 50 laps they blew a left rear tire. The team dug in, and was once again pacing the field when Jeff Gordon broke a right front brake rotor heading into turn 1 with less than a dozen laps to go.
Jeff smacked the wall hard, but thanks to all the safety equipment he was out checking the front end of his mangled car when the safety crew arrived on the scene. Restarting with just 5 laps to go, Denny Hamlin was never challenged by Kurt Busch who restarted in 2nd and finished there as well.
Denny wasn’t the only driver to fight adversity today, as Greg Biffle had brake issues all day long. He rallied for another strong finish, as did Scott Riggs who got loose in turn 3 on the first lap and tapped Casey Mears, sending Mears into the fence and out of the race early. Similar to an accident between Mears and Kyle Busch back at Charlotte, this time Casey was on the receiving end. When asked about it, Casey was obviously disappointed, but wasn’t angry at Scott for what happened. It was just one of those unfortunate racing deals.
While Denny Hamlin earned a spot in the Bud Shootout next February with his pole on Friday, he would have been eligible anyway since he won it this past February, he also ensured a starting spot in the Nextel All-Star race next May with his win today. He also moved into the top 10 in points for the first time in his short career.
Keep your eye on this kid. He’s going to be a factor for some time to come.
Filed Under: Nascar, Nextel Cup
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