Hamlin pulls away from the pack in OT to win at Pocono
Denny Hamlin had enough fuel in the No. 11 Toyota to pull away off the final restart in an overtime finish Sunday for a victory in the Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.
Hamlin raced to his third victory of the season and 34th overall in NASCAR Cup Series race, giving Joe Gibbs Racing its 11th win in 21 races this season.
Hamlin held off teammates Erik Jones, who needed a win to secure a spot in the playoffs, and Martin Truex Jr. to secure the victory that eluded him last week at New Hampshire.
With the leaders running low on fuel, Hamlin had enough left to get a good jump off two late restarts that made the difference.
“I was really worried,” Hamlin said. “We just did a great job with the car.”
Hamlin seemingly had the race won in regulation when he took the lead off a restart with four laps to go after Kurt Busch slammed into the wall to bring out another caution. Hamlin, Jones and Truex made it a 1-2-3 running order for JGR as the race headed into OT. That’s the way it shook out after three extra laps.
“We’re running our best right now,” Hamlin said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
IndyCar: Scott Dixon held off rookie teammate Felix Rosenqvist to win the Honda Indy 200 for the sixth time, putting himself back in contention to defend his IndyCar season championship.
Dixon won by 0.0934 seconds in the closest finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and the third-closest on a road course in Indy history. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver from New Zealand is third on the career victory list with 46.
“I would have preferred winning by 10 seconds instead of banging wheels for a few laps,” Dixon said.
Rosennqvist missed a chance for his first victory.
Points leader Josef Newgarden bumped third-place Ryan HunterReay with two laps left and finished 14th. Newgarden’s lead over fifth-place finisher Alexander Rossi was cut from 29 to 16 points.
Formula One: Max Verstappen won a chaotic and rain-soaked German Grand Prix in Hockenheim as championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished 11th and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas crashed near the end.
Verstappen kept his composure on a treacherous track to clinch his second victory this season and seventh of his Red Bull career, topping a surprise podium ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel – who started from last – and Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat.