NASCAR
Denny Hamlin Snatches Richmond Win From Truex in Overtime
RICHMOND, Va. – Central Virginia’s native son rises again, victorious for a fifth time at Richmond Raceway. Despite Martin Truex Jr driving away in the second half, his time out front ended in overtime. A clutch final pit stop and restart gave Denny Hamlin all he needed to park the No. 11 in victory lane.
Kyle Larson may have won Stage 1 from the pole, but it was far from a Sunday drive for the No. 5. Starting the race on wet weather tires, Larson initially lost the lead but soon regained the top spot. Following a few laps of door-to-door racing with Bubba Wallace on slick dry tires, Larson did pull away for the opening Stage win.
Larson opting to split Stage 2 in half with a lap 150 pit stop would hand the eventual stage win to Martin Truex Jr. The No. 19 Toyota looked unbeatable out front, taking off to start the final stage too.
Truex seemingly had this race sealed in vintage MTJ dominant fashion, until two laps were left. Kyle Larson spun after contact from Bubba Wallace, setting up overtime. Leading everyone down pit road, a slight stumble from Truex’s pit crew had him come out second to teammate Denny Hamlin.
On the restart, Hamlin seemingly ran Truex wide out of turn two, causing the No. 19 to fall back and the 11 to drive off. Hamlin is now a five time winner at Richmond, just beating Joey Logano to the checkered flag. Truex was none too happy after the race though, ramming into both Larson and Hamlin.
“My pit crew… This is a team win for sure,” Hamlin said. “This trophy needs to go to each one of these pit crew members. They just did an amazing job. They’ve been killing it all year.”
“Thanks to Mavis for coming on. Man, we got some good runs with these guys. Thanks to Jordan Brand, Coca-Cola, Shady Rays, everyone that makes this happen. Such a great feeling when you know you can come in and have a pit crew like that.”
Behind Hamlin and Logano, Kyle Larson just got by Truex and Chase Elliott was fifth. The rest of the top-10 were: Christopher Bell, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, and Tyler Reddick. Hear from some of these drivers below.
Hamlin remains undefeated on short tracks to open 2024, with three wins counting the Busch Light Clash. The No. 11 Toyota will try and keep this streak alive next week at Martinsville. The Cook Out 400 goes green Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Another one of Hamlin’s favorite tracks, the Virginia native eyes a fifth Grandfather Clock trophy.
Written by Peter Stratta
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