National Post

Hamlin uses daring move to give Gibbs a Daytona win

- Jenna Fryer

DAY TONA BE ACH, FLA. • With a Hail Mary move, Denny Hamlin ended Joe Gibbs’ 23-year drought at the Daytona 500.

Gibbs made it clear that he had no use for the victories his drivers collected in the exhibition races leading into Sunday’s season-opener. The three- time Super Bowl winning coach was focused only on the Great American Race and his four drivers brainstorm­ed on the best way to get a win for Gibbs.

Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Busch stuck close together for most of the race, and they got assistance from Martin Truex Jr., who became a de facto JGR teammate this year when Furniture Row Racing moved to Toyota.

Kenseth was out front and leading Truex until the final lap when Hamlin finally jumped out of line to make his attempt at the win. Starting a second line on the outside, Hamlin got a push from Kevin Harvick that allowed him to catch Kenseth. Kenseth tried to throw a block but Hamlin wedged into the middle between Kenseth and Truex and Kenseth had to save his car from wrecking.

“The last thing I wanted to do was wreck off turn four with my Toyota teammates and none of us win,” Hamlin said. “We had talked about a plan overnight to just work together and I’ve never seen it executed so flawlessly.

“I said with two to go that we have to get the team victory no matter what it takes and I essentiall­y was trying to go up there and block ( Harvick) to keep him from getting to those guys.”

But the push from Harvick was so strong, Hamlin was able to catch Kenseth and Truex. Once Kenseth was out of the way, Hamlin raced Truex side- by- side to the checkered flag for a photo finish. The margin of victory was 0.010 seconds, the closest in race history.

“I don’t know where that came from, I don’t know what happened, I can’t even figure out what I did,” Hamlin said. “It all just came together. But this wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for Toyotas sticking together all race long.”

It was Hamlin’s first Daytona 500 victory and first for Toyota. Gibbs, who in November celebrated with Busch the team’s first Sprint Cup title in a decade, won the Daytona 500 for the first time since Dale Jarrett in 1993.

Truex, who s pun t he loss as a positive in that he proved to JGR that he and Furniture Row Racing will be strong partners, wasn’t sure what he could have done differentl­y. “It hurts a little bit,” he said. “We were in the right spot, we made the right moves. You can second- guess all day long, the only thing I could have done different was be more aggressive to the line.”

Toyotas swept the podium as Truex was second, and Busch third. Carl Edwards was fifth as Toyota took four of the top five spots.

 ?? TERRY RENNA / AP PHOTO ?? Denny Hamlin raises the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR
Daytona 500 on Sunday.
TERRY RENNA / AP PHOTO Denny Hamlin raises the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Daytona 500 on Sunday.

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