 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hamlin comes back to win Pocono 500 Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Fed-Ex Chevrolet earned the title, "Come Back Kid," after his performance in Sunday's Nextel Cup Pocono 500. The Joe Gibbs rookie sat on the pole and led the first 49 laps, before spinning out with a cut tire. He pitted 11 different times for repairs and then came back from 40th position to win. "This car was on rails all day long," said Hamlin. "We made a few changes every other stop, and it was just unbelievable. I thought the race was over when we blew that tire. "My success has a lot to do with Mike Ford (crew chief on the No. 11). He just put an awesome car under me. It's easy to do when you've got a car as dominant as ours." Hamlin retook the lead from Greg Biffle on lap 163 of the 200 lap race. Except for a few laps when he pitted for fresh tires, he led the remainder of the race. Jeff Gordon crashed hard into the outside wall of turn one during lap 190. "That was one of the hardest hits I've ever taken," said Gordon. "I think we broke a right front brake rotor going into one." The race was red flagged while speedway safety crews cleaned up the track and replaced broken safety panels in the wall. Green flag racing resumed on lap 195. The three leaders were: Hamlin, Kurt Busch, and Tony Stewart. Hamlin easily pulled away from Busch and the rest of the field for his first Nextel Cup point's win in his 21st start. The win was only the third time in the history of the speedway that a driver has won in his first race. The other two drivers were Richard Petty and Carl Edwards. Hamlin moved from eleventh to ninth in points. Kurt Busch finished second, while Hamlin's teammate, Tony Stewart, who ran the entire race with a broken shoulder was third. "It was obviously easier to race at a place like this than at Dover last week," said Stewart. "It was tough Friday and we were worried yesterday about our mobility, but I went through the whole race without being sore. "We've got one day off, then we've got a road course test, so we'll see how we stack up there." Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs, Jeff Burton, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top ten. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team ran among the top-five for much of the afternoon, but struggled as the race reached the later stages, dropping to l4th-place at the finish. The finish drops Dale Jr. two positions in the Nextel Cup point standings, from fourth to sixth place. Top 10 Nextel Cup Chase contenders: 1. Johnson-2145, 2. Kenseth-2097, 3. Martin-1907, 4. Stewart-1888, 5. Kahne-1866, 6. Earnhardt Jr.-1850, 7. Burton-1758, 8. Harvick-1715, 9. Hamlin-1682, 10. Kyle Busch-1669 Add a comment |
|
|
@ 2005 The Wayne County Outlook For more information, see our online Privacy Policy. |