Denny Hamlin ended a 50-race winless streak in the Sprint Cup Series in what was an emotional victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver in Monday’s rain-delayed Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.
Hamlin, who put on a dominating performance with 91 laps led, passed Clint Bowyer with 10 laps remaining. He then held off Juan Pablo Montoya by 0.869 seconds for his first victory since March 2008 at Martinsville. MiamiHerald.com
“We’ve been the most solid car that hasn’t had a Hendrick label,” Hamlin said. “For the most part, I take a lot of pride in that. We’re taking strides starting today.”
Clint Bowyer was third. Sam Hornish Jr. was fourth for his best finish in a Cup car, and Kasey Kahne was fifth.
“As far as how crazy it was today, I think that’s just what the racetrack needed,” Hamlin said. “We always hear about the races here. People aren’t big fans of the racing. But they had a great race today.”
Three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson battled an unruly car all day, falling three laps down and needing a carburetor change with 60 laps left before rebounding with a solid 13th-place finish. The Associated Press
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 2 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 3 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 4 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 5 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 6 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 7 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 9 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 10 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 11 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 12 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 13 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 14 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 16 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 17 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 18 99 Carl Edwards Ford 19 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 20 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 22 6 David Ragan Ford 23 82 Scott Speed * Toyota 24 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 25 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 26 98 Paul Menard Ford 27 20 Joey Logano * Toyota 28 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 29 0 David Reutimann Toyota 30 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 31 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 32 12 David Stremme Dodge 33 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 34 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 35 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 36 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 37 36 Patrick Carpentier Toyota 38 9 Sterling Marlin Dodge 39 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 40 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 41 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet 42 37 Tony Raines Dodge 43 64 Mike Wallace Toyota
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