Denny Hamlin’s pit crew got him the lead for an overtime restart and the future NASCAR Hall of Famer did the rest, scoring his second victory in the last three races.
Hamlin’s fifth Cup victory at Richmond Raceway is the 53rd of his career.
“This is a team win, for sure,” Hamlin told Fox after the win. “This trophy needs to go to each one of these pit crew members. They just did an amazing job. They’ve been killing it all year.”
Joey Logano finished a season-best second. Kyle Larson placed third after leading 144 of the first 150 laps. Martin Truex Jr., who led 228 of 407 laps, finished fourth. Chase Elliott completed the top five.
“Just got beat out of the pits,” Truex told Fox. “I don’t know, (Hamlin) jumped the start and just used me up in Turn 1. Definitely sucks. Good solid day. Another car capable of winning.”
Overtime was set up when Larson spun after contact with Bubba Wallace. The field came down pit road during the caution for fresh tires. Hamlin entered pit road third and exited in the lead. Truex entered as the leader and exited second.
Hamlin’s victory was the 10th for Joe Gibbs Racing in the last 17 Cup races at Richmond. The win completed a weekend sweep for JGR after Chandler Smith won Saturday’s Xfinity race there.
Hamlin is the second driver with two wins this season, joining William Byron on that list. Both of Hamlin’s wins have come at short tracks. He won at Bristol earlier this month.
Stage 1 winner: Kyle Larson
Stage 2 winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Who had a good race: Winner Denny Hamlin has finished in the top two in five of the last seven Richmond races. ... Joey Logano’s best finish this season had been ninth at Las Vegas until he placed second on Sunday night. ... Martin Truex Jr. has five consecutive top-10 finishes after his fourth-place result. ... Brad Keselowski finished eighth for his third top 10 in the last four races. ... Chris Buescher finished ninth for his fourth consecutive top 10.
Who had a bad race: Zane Smith finished 35th, marking the fifth time in seven races that the Cup rookie has placed 29th or worse. ... Austin Dillon placed 29th. He has not finished better than 16th this year. ... Daniel Hemric was 30th, the fourth consecutive race he’s finished 28th or worse.
Notable: Sunday night’s race at Richmond was the first points race to start with teams on wet weather tires. Rain before the race necessitated the tires. Teams were on wet weather tires for the first 40 laps before changing to slick tires. ... Also, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have won six of the first seven Cup races with Hamlin’s win for JGR.
Next: The series races April 7 at Martinsville Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1).
