Denny Hamlin, who collected his eighth career victory, won from the 38th starting position in a No. 11 Toyota that improved as daylight turned to night, thanks to crew chief Mike Ford’s astute adjustments to the car. He managed to keep pace with Johnson at times during the Chase but fell out of contention with three DNFs.
“We’re going to be there, I promise you,” Hamlin said. “I promise you, the next couple years, we’re going to win the championship. But right now, there’s no one more deserving than Jimmie.” NASCAR
Three top-threes since then helped Hamlin finish fifth, but his fourth victory of the season offered a sign of where he and the Joe Gibbs Racing team need to be to stop Johnson from winning a fifth consecutive championship.
“It’s tough to play the numbers games and what-if, but all I know is we’ve been competitive enough to run with those guys,” Hamlin said after leading three times for 71 laps. USA Today
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 2 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 3 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 4 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 6 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 7 99 Carl Edwards Ford 8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 9 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 10 44 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 11 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 12 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 13 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 14 16 Greg Biffle Ford 15 0 David Reutimann Toyota 16 21 Bill Elliott Ford 17 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 18 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 19 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 20 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 21 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 22 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 23 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 24 20 Joey Logano * Toyota 25 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge 26 98 Paul Menard Ford 27 82 Scott Speed * Toyota 28 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 29 202 David Gilliland Toyota 30 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 31 171 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 32 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 33 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 34 6 David Ragan Ford 35 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 36 96 Erik Darnell Ford 37 37 Travis Kvapil Chevrolet 38 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 39 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 40 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 41 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 42 8 Terry Labonte Toyota 43 36 Michael McDowell Toyota
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