Loudon, NH (Sports Network) - Denny Hamlin had been frustrated all season, but
he fought off Jeff Gordon to capture Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at
the New Hampshire International Speedway. The No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet
crossed the finish line one length ahead of the four-time series champion for
his first victory of the season and third of his Nextel Cup career.
"We finally got a win," said Hamlin, who had led a total of 665 laps this year
without a victory.
For the first time in Nextel Cup history, a Toyota-powered car led the field
to the green flag. Driving the No.22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, pole winner
Dave Blaney went side-by-side with Kurt Busch on the first lap. The Toyota
managed to hold the Dodge at bay and took control of the race as the top-10
cars got single file.
Blaney easily led the first 25 laps while Gordon began a surge towards the
leaders. He made his was around Juan Montoya, Reed Sorenson and Dale Earnhardt
Jr. as he slid into third place behind Busch. On lap 29 Gordon powered around
Busch and he was gaining on Blaney.
Blaney and Gordon were side-by-side going into turn three of lap 30. Gordon
held to the bottom of the track and completed the pass for the first lead
change of the afternoon.
Gordon's No.24 Chevy was really working well and within just a couple of laps
the lead was two seconds. Blaney was beginning to fade. Busch, "Junior" and
Reed Sorenson all got by the pole sitter.
At lap 55 Gordon began to lap cars and the traffic allowed Busch and Earnhardt
Jr. to close the gap. Gordon put Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd a lap down as
he continued to set a quick pace. Behind him "Junior" and Busch were matching
him. Also moving up were Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards.
Green flag pit stops began on lap 68. On the next lap Gordon took his turn
giving up the lead to Earnhardt Jr. The No.8 pit crew was brilliant on the
first stop and Earnhardt Jr. returned to the track in front of Gordon. When
everyone had cycled through, Junior held a 1.332-second lead.
A lap 98 debris caution flag brought everyone to pit lane again. Busch and
Johnson were the first two off pit road with soon-to-be teammates Earnhardt
Jr. and Gordon third and fourth, respectively as the field passed the 100-lap
mark.
"Junior's" Chevy was still working well and he quickly disposed of Busch and
Johnson for the lead. Another caution flag and Johnson used a fuel-only stop
to take the lead. One driver who lost on the stop was Newman. When he left pit
lane he ran over the air hose - a penalty. He dropped from third to 27th.
Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch got around Johnson and began to fight for the
lead amongst themselves. They were two seconds ahead of Edwards in third.
Busch built the lead to almost one second at the mid-point of the 300-lap
event.
Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr. and Edwards were content to stay one-two-three and
they created a gap of two seconds between themselves and fourth-place Martin
Truex Jr. Then on lap 182 Earnhardt Jr. dropped to the bottom of the track and
beat Busch into the third turn and the lead was his. Busch began to drop back
and Edwards took up the chase.
It was another long green flag run and pit stops began on about lap 193 with
Gordon the first of the leaders. Edwards pitted from the lead on lap 194 and
the jack broke in the middle of the stop. The 47-second disaster ended any
chance for the No.99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to win the race.
With Edwards down a lap, Earnhardt Jr. and his DEI teammate Truex Jr. were on
top of the charts as the field reached 200 laps.
Truex Jr. was going to ask his teammate if he could lead a lap, but then he
realized he was the faster Chevrolet and he just flew around "Junior" on lap
210. The No.1 Chevy slowly opened his lead - to 1.264 seconds on lap 215,
1.311 on lap 220 and 1.737 by lap 225.
Gordon got around Earnhardt Jr. but Truex Jr. continued to pour it on and with
65 laps remaining his lead had ballooned to 3.529 seconds. The lead was almost
four seconds when a debris caution on lap 254 erased his lead in a heartbeat.
Final pit stops commenced and Hamlin (two tires) led Truex Jr. (four tires)
to the restart with 37 laps remaining. Hamlin posted his fastest lap of the
day as they went back to green, but Truex Jr. right with him. Still, he had to
find a way around the No.11 JGR Chevrolet who was determined to get his first
win of the season.
Hamlin edged out to a 0.440-second lead with 25 laps to go. He held 1.037
seconds on Gordon, who was in third place. Gordon joined the battle as
he got right on Truex Jr.'s bumper with 15 laps to go. But the battle between
Truex Jr. and Gordon was allowing Hamlin to build on his lead.
"We were a top-four car, but I knew all we needed was some clean air for this
car to be good," said Hamlin.
Ten laps remained and Hamlin held 0.636 seconds. Meanwhile, Gordon and Truex
Jr. were side-by-side for second. Six laps to go, Hamlin was up almost one
second as Gordon took over second place.
But there was no "give-up" in Gordon as he cut into Hamlin's lead. The lead
was down to three lengths as they saw the white flag. Gordon went deep into
the final corner and got right up to Hamlin's bumper. Hamlin got loose,
fishtailed, but regain control and drove it to the checkered flag and the win.
"We were running Denny down," said Gordon. "The last two laps he started
watching his mirror and I thought we had a shot at him. That was fun."
"I was trying not to make a mistake," said Hamlin. "Those guys had fresh tires
and they were coming. Martin (Truex Jr.) held him up just enough to get the
win."
Gordon will bring a 156-point lead over Hamlin for next Saturday night's
traditional summer shootout at the Daytona International Speedway.