Denny Hamlin Outlasts Overtime in Wild Coca-Cola 600

by
Peter Stratta
May 30, 2022

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

Denny Hamlin Wins Attrition-Filled Coca-Cola 600 in Double Overtime

CONCORD, N.C. – The longest mileage Coca-Cola 600 in history was a humdinger of a night to say the least. At the end of a very wreck-filled marathon of a night, it was Denny Hamlin standing tall in victory lane. While the 11 got the win in overtime, this race was marred by several hellacious moments of carnage. Four different Stage winners will also define the first 600 mile race of the Next Gen car. This race also saw 18 cautions, 31 lead changes, 413 laps, and took over five hours to complete.

A very topsy turvy Stage 1 would end with Chase Elliott taking the win. This opening 100-lap stint would see seven different drivers lead. Despite this great parity, the 9 ran away with the Stage win in the closing laps. Midway through this segment, Kyle Busch would also spin while being passed for the lead by Daniel Suarez, only starting great adversity for the 18 all night long.

Stage 2 would see Trackhouse Racing assert their presence as heavy contenders. While Daniel Suarez picked up the Stage win, this midpoint of the race will be remembered for the chaos at the end. On a late restart, Ryan Blaney clipped the apron, sending the 12 around into traffic. The days of several favorites went up in smoke, including 13 cars in total. The big one struck at Charlotte, and the 600 was not even to halfway.

After the crash caused by Blaney’s mistake, Stage 3 calmed down quite a bit, with only two cautions. This stint was largely led by Ross Chastain, as the 1 took his third career Stage win.

Midway through the final Stage came a heart-stopping moment for many. While racing his way back through the pack, Daniel Suarez got turned after contact with Chase Briscoe. The sideways 99 was hit by Chris Buescher, as the 17 was sent into the turf and flipped end over end multiple times. Ultimately, Buescher thankfully climbed from the car under his own power. The RFK Racing Mustang was sent airborne after a broken suspension collapsed under the injured car, then clipped the turf. After perhaps the scariest wreck of the season, everyone gratefully walked away.

With many cars now retired, the lead fell into the hands of Kyle Larson. The defending Coca-Cola 600 champion had a night to forget until this point. After starting in the rear due to a practice crash, the 5 came through the field no fewer than six different times. The 5 team found every way to shoot themselves in the foot in this race’s first half, only to rally to lead late. However, Chase Briscoe began moving his way forward to challenge for the victory.

After hunting Larson down lap after lap, Briscoe got to the 5’s inside only to spin out late. The 14 was able to continue, as this incident triggered overtime for the Coca-Cola 600.

In the first attempt at overtime, all chaos would again ensue. Larson, Chastain, Austin Dillon, and Denny Hamlin were four-wide off of turn four coming to the white flag. The 3 of Dillon was bounced around up into the pack, triggering another caution and overtime. This crash again took out many who had the win in sight, and left Denny Hamlin leading.

In the final run to the checkers, it was a duel between teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. After fighting and clawing his way back through the field all night long, Busch led by a nose at the white flag. On the last lap, Hamlin cleared Busch for good in turn two, taking his first Charlotte victory.

This not only marks Denny Hamlin’s first win in the Coca-Cola 600 and at Charlotte. The 11 team won with substitute crew chief Sam McCauley atop the box. Chris Gabehart is under suspension for the Dover wheel infraction, so the 11 claiming a major win without key members is a huge shot in the arm.

“It’s so special,” Hamlin said of his first Coca-Cola 600 triumph. “It’s the last big one that’s not on my résumé. It meant so much. Man, I just can’t thank this whole FedEx team enough. Jordan Brand, Shady Rays, Toyota, Coco-Cola. I’ve been a Coke family driver for 18 years. Never won the Coke 600 before. This means a lot. Man, we weren’t very good all day. Just got ourselves in the right place at the right time. What a battle there.”

“It’s a big one. It’s one of the three majors we’ve got in our sport and it’s one that I haven’t won. To be part of the Coke family for as long as I have, to finally win is awesome. My daughter was really excited about this Coke machine that we were going to win. Can’t thank my partners enough – FedEx, Toyota, Coca Cola, Sport Clips, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), the Jordan Brand, Logitech, Shady Rays – all those guys. We were just hanging around all day and then we had some good fortune there with other guys getting each other and finally had one go our way.”

Behind Hamlin and Busch, top five finishers included Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe, and Christopher Bell. Other top drivers were Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman. Hear from some of these drivers below.

Two wins for Denny Hamlin now in 2022 puts the 11 in the top three for the Playoff standings. Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota appear to be firing on all cylinders now. Toyotas had six great chances to earn the Coca-Cola 600 win. The coming summer months may be very fruitful for the Toyota brand, as they seemingly now have a great handle on the Next Gen car.

Up next for the NASCAR Cup Series is the inaugural visit to Gateway. The Enjoy Illinois 300 will go green from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. With a brand new track introduced to the Cup Series, the potential winners list is wide open.