USA TODAY International Edition
Hamlin wins wreck- fest at Talladega in close finish
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Denny Hamlin was one of the last drivers standing at the end of the messiest and longest race in Talladega Superspeedway history.
The Daytona 500 winner surged to the NASCAR Cup Series win with a sweeping three- wide pass – the 58th lead change of the race – coming out of the final turn of the third overtime Sunday. The race went nearly 32 miles, or 12 laps, longer than scheduled because of a record 13 cautions that collected nearly every playoff contender.
Fitting for this particular wreck- fest was that Hamlin’s win needed official review. He had gone below the yellow out- of- bounds line during the third overtime, but NASCAR ruled the move was legal.
The crowd of 15,000 booed Hamlin as he was declared the winner. The race went more than four hours, so long that it was moved from NBC to NBC Sports Network because local news and then an NFL game needed the big network.
The brutality of the day was punctuated by Kyle Busch, who was at last given a merciful exit when he was collected in an accident during the second overtime. The reigning Cup champion is winless this season. He was involved in a dizzying number of incidents at Talladega, including a 13- car accident in which older brother Kurt went airborne over Cole Custer. That accident brought out the first of two red- flag stoppages.
Hamlin earned the automatic berth into the next round of the playoffs, joining Kurt Busch, the winner last week at his home track Las Vegas but one of six playoff drivers who failed to reach the finish Sunday.
Austin Dillon was the next highest-finishing playoff driver at 12th. Four of 12 will be eliminated next week at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The bottom four i are Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Dillon.
Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto stood devastated on pit road after a secondplace finish. He was dropped to 21st after NASCAR penalized him for forcing William Byron below the line.