Hamlin wins in thrilling three-wide overtime finish

LINCOLN, Alabama – Denny Hamlin held on through three overtimes and multiple latelap wrecks Sunday to win the Yellawood 500 race at Talladega Superspeedway.

The 13th and final caution forced a two-lap shootout through the checkered flag in which Matt Dibenedetto’s team decided against refueling to retain track position late in the race. Dibenedetto was leading on the final lap, but contact between the leaders pulled the No. 21 car back, and Hamlin was able to surge to the front in a three-wide finish.

Hamlin said the win, his 44th in his career, was a result of “a lot of attrition.”

“We just played the strategy and the numbers game to run in the back until we were locked in,” Hamlin said. “Just things worked out. We finally got one back. This one was unexpected, to say the least.”

Dibenedetto crossed the finish line in second place, but NASCAR issued a penalty after the checkered flag, deeming that Dibenedetto forced William Byron below the yellow line.

Erik Jones was moved to second officially, followed by Ty Dillon

and Byron. Dibenedetto gave an emotional television interview after the race, saying that he had overcome many hurdles in the sport. A decision on his contract with his Wood Brothers Racing team for next year has not been announced, although the deadline for the team to inform him has passed.

“I don’t have many words...just a tough week and that’s at the top of the heartbreak list,” Dibenedetto tweeted after the race. “Our time will come. Thank you all so much for the support.”

Hamlin also drove below the line on the final lap, but

NASCAR determined it was a move made to avoid a wreck rather than gain an positional advantage. The decision was “pretty clearcut,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said.

Dibenedetto dropped to 21st in the scoring, while another late-leader, Chase Elliott, also was penalized with a 22ndplace finish for the same line penalty. NASCAR later reversed Elliott’s penalty, determining that he was forced below the double yellow line by Chris Buescher, who instead was issued the penalty.

The initial line-violation decisions were met with debate on social media, but Miller said he does not foresee the yellow-line rule changing.

“We certainly don’t need more wrecks than what we saw today,” Miller said. “Probably not.”

Drama was preceded by drama at the superspeedway. Before the final shootout, a late-lap caution extended the race into it double overtime when Cup Series rookie Tyler Reddick tapped the back of Kyle Busch, who was still racing a damaged Toyota car after being involved in multiple incidents. Busch wrecked to the outside wall, collecting teammate Martin Truex Jr., as well as Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano, and bringing out the red flag. Logano was in the lead at the time.

While those playoff drivers were above the cutoff in points prior to Sunday, Busch was nine points below the bubble and remains in jeopardy of missing the next round.

“Car was just real slow after all the damage obviously,” Busch said on NBCSN after exiting his No. 18 Toyota, adding that he guessed he “was right,” possibly referencing an earlier comment he made about missing the Round of 8.

Busch’s incident was one of many throughout the evening. From the first lap, a caution for an incident was called when Cup rookie Christopher Bell hit the wall. Over the course

when you take unnecessary risks, especially down in the score zone,” Mullens said of that firsthalf interception.

On his more costly second interception, the pick-six, Mullens said he saw the Eagles’ linebacker but the ball “didn’t come off right.”

Mullens’ first two passes were off target, starting with a pass to Kendrick Bourne before Mullens overthrew a wide open Kyle Juszczyk. It was the first time all season the 49ers hadn’t scored on their opening possession.

LAST-GASP DRIVE

Beathard proved adept at pushing the 49ers’ down field in the closing minutes. On the last drive, he completed consecutive passes to Kendrick Bourne (20 yards), Kittle (13), Jerick Mckinnon (five), Bourne (10) and Kittle (10) to reach the Eagles’ 45 inside the final 20 seconds.

With 7 seconds left, on fourthand-10 from the 33, Beathard heaved a Hail Mary into the end zone, and neither Bourne, Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel nor Kittle could come down with the heroic catch. Beathard was 14-of-19 for 138 yards and, as Shanahan summed up, “did his job.”

Asked about the state of the 49ers, having seen all their highs and lows since 2017, Beathard said: “No one’s panicking.” Beathard was surprised when of the next 200 laps, more exits followed, including playoff drivers Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch.

Almirola wrecked from the front of the pack just before the first stage finished. He was tapped from behind as the pack raced close together, and Almirola slammed into the outside wall. The No. 10 driver needed the points, though, and now sits 48 points below the cutoff.

Bowyer and Kurt Busch were involved in the first of multiple “Big Ones,” in which Busch went airborne, before the race reached the end of Stage 2.

Meanwhile, Hamlin hung mid-pack for most of the race after leading the early

he got the bullpen call to replace Mullens but had kept his arm warm throughout the game as the No. 2 quarterback; Garoppolo was inactive.

EAGLES’ GO-AHEAD SCORE

The 49ers’ fourth-quarter lead vanished in a flash, or, specifically on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Wentz to Travis Fulgham, who slipped past Dontae Johnson down the sideline with 5:50 remaining.

Earlier in the Eagles’ go-ahead drive, they converted on a fourthdown play, they got tackled by Jaquiski Tartt for a 12-yard loss on the next snap, and Jalen Hurts fumbled a snap one play before Wentz’s touchdown toss.

THE AMAZING AIYUK

Rookie Brandon Aiyuk delivered a sensational touchdown run down the right side, artistically hurdling safety Marcus Epps at the 5-yard line to finish off that 39-yard scoring run.

The Eagles had taken an 8-0 lead on the preceding series, and even though it was Aiyuk who answered that score, the 49ers made a concerted effort to have Kittle key their drive. Kittle opened it with catches for 17 and 7 yards, then had an 8-yard run. Aiyuk’s second career touchdown run actually came on a backward pass from Mullens. Eagles star cornerback Darius Slay got laps from the pole. His crew chief, Chris Gabehart, said the plan was to ride around and wait it out as other wrecked in front of them. He said he trusted Hamlin to deliver when the driver followed his instincts.

“I hate to say it, but you have to play the game,” Hamlin said. “You have to get to the next round. To win the championship, you have to win the last race and you have to get to the last race. For us, we played the strategy to play the numbers to make sure we got locked in and then win the race.”

Hamlin will advance to the Round of 8 along with Kurt Busch, who won at Las Vegas last weekend.

injured on the play.

ARMSTEAD’S PRESSURE

Defensive lineman Arik Armstead provided consistent pressure in the pocket. He had six quarterbacks hits but only a half-sack as Wentz consistently escaped major damage. Armstead did hurry him into a thirdquarter incompletion and helped force the Eagles to settle for a field goal on a 16-play, 7 1/2-minute drive.

Other 49ers to pester Wentz were D.J. Jones (sack) and blitzing linebacker Fred Warner.

HALFTIME DEFICIT

For the first time in 10 games, the 49ers trailed at halftime, a stretch including last season’s playoffs and dating back to a 1714 halftime deficit at Baltimore on Dec. 1.

The Eagles took an 8-7 lead into intermission thanks to a firstquarter scoring drive, which was capped by Carson Wentz’s 11yard touchdown run and Zach Ertz’s ensuing 2-point conversion catch.

Earlier that drive, the 49ers committed two penalties (Jimmie Ward, pass interference; Kwon Alexander, holding) and they allowed a 28-yard catch-andrun by Miles Sanders against a double blitz of linebackers Azeez Al-shaair and Fred Warner. Dion Jordan bit on the Wentz’ QB run for the first points of the game.