BACK ON THE TRACK
Help from teammate Busch gets him to victory lane
NASCAR raced for the second time in four days Wednesday night in Darlington, S.C. John Hunter Nemechek stands for the national anthem before the Toyota 500.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Denny Hamlin won NASCAR’s first Wednesday race since 1984 when rain stopped the event with 20 laps remaining at Darlington Raceway.
The Daytona 500 winner was out front but out of fresh tires and trying to hang on when he got unintended help from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. The reigning Cup champion caused Chase Elliott to crash eight laps earlier to bring out the caution.
A furious Elliott waited for Busch on the apron of the track and gestured at
Busch as he passed. As NASCAR cleaned the track, it started to rain and the cars were called to pit road under red-flag.
It was an already active evening at “The Track Too Tough To Tame” as drivers were racing against the field and the weather. As the drivers sat in their cars waiting for NASCAR to pull the plug, a handful of Elliott’s crew members sat on the pit wall starring down Busch.
Busch immediately copped to the error.
“There’s no question I made a mistake and just misjudged the gap,” Busch said. “They are upset. They are mad.”
Hamlin walked to victory lane under a black umbrella. It was a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Hamlin has won three times at Darlington and has two wins this season.
When the action finally began, the 310-mile affair was spirited from start to finish because drivers were unsure if they were racing to the halfway point — the mark a race becomes official — or the distance.
It was NASCAR’s second race in four days as it embarks on an ambitious return plan of 20 races spanning its three national series between Sunday’s return and June 21.