Hamlin needs victories to aid his Chase for Sprint Cup push
DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin has tried to learn to love Dover. He just can’t. Not yet, at least. Maybe Hamlin has to learn to win at Dover before he can truly embrace the mile concrete oval.
Hamlin has been tormented for years by the track and voiced his disdain for Dover as finishes in the 30s or worse piled up. Hamlin also knows he can’t focus on the past disappointments. He has to conquer his Dover demons and try to win there if he wants to keep his long-shot bid to make Chase alive.
Winning the pole for today’s FedEx 400 was a nice start.
Hamlin, actually, has won the previous two poles at Dover and parlayed his top spot into an eighthplace finish in the September race. The top-10 finish snapped a streak of three consecutive double-digit finishes at the Monster Mile. Hamlin had a four-race stretch from 2007 to 2009 where he finished no better than 36th.
Nationwide Series
DOVER, Del. — Joey Logano savors the times he led Joe Gibbs Racing into victory lane.
Turns out, he enjoys beating JGR so much more. Logano changed his team and his car, just not the result, and raced to his third consecutive Dover victory in the Nationwide Series 5-hour Energy 200 on Saturday.
Unlike the previous two, Logano won for Penske Racing. His previous two Dover victories came under the Gibbs banner. This time, Logano held off JGR drivers Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth and Kyle NASCAR Sprint Cup FedEx 400 benefiting Autism
Speaks lineup After Friday qualifying; race today At Dover International Speedway
Dover, Del. Lap length: 1 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 157.978. 2. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 157.798. 3. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 157.756. 4. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 157.736. 5. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 157.715. 6. (55) Mark Martin, Toyota, 157.604. 7. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 157.549. 8. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 157.48. 9. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 157.46. 10. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 157.405. 11. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 157.35. 12. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 157.24. 13. (78) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 157.054. 14. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 156.713. 15. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 156.556. 16. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 156.175. 17. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 156.169. 18. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 156.054. 19. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 155.952. 20. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 155.696. 21. (33) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 155.44. 22. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 155.407. 23. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 155.239. 24. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 155.206. 25. (51) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 155.146. 26. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 155.086. 27. (83) David Reutimann, Toyota, 155.059. 28. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 154.972. 29. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 154.679. 30. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 154.619. 31. (98) Michael McDowell, Ford, 154.573. 32. (19) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 154.5. 33. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 154.48. 34. (30) David Stremme, Toyota, 154.295. 35. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 153.984. 36. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 153.636. 37. (7) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Owner Points. 38. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, Owner Points. 39. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, Owner Points. 40. (36) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, Owner Points. 41. (35) Josh Wise, Ford, Owner Points. 42. (32) Timmy Hill, Ford, Owner Points. 43. (44) Scott Riggs, Ford, Owner Points. Busch for the checkered flag.
Busch, who won the truck series race Friday, dominated most of the race and led 72 of the 200 laps. But he was 10th off the final restart, couldn’t drive his way to the front of the field and was fifth.
IndyCar
DETROIT — Mike Conway went from watching to winning IndyCar races in less than a week.
The English driver dominated the first of two races at the Detroit Grand Prix, finishing nearly13 seconds ahead of defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay to easily win the 70-lap race on the 2.36-mile Belle Isle street course.
Dale Coyne Racing picked Conway to drive one of its two cars this weekend and wasted no time offering him another opportunity — the Streets of Toronto race in July.
Conway backed out of last September’s season finale at Fontana because he decided he’s uncomfortable racing on ovals. He had serious leg and back injuries after a 2010 crash at Indianapolis and wrecked there again in 2012.
Conway’s only other IndyCar win was at Long Beach in 2011. The open-wheel series is running a second full-length race in the same weekend for the first time today when Conway will start up front for the first time in his career.
NHRA
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. — Clay Millican raced to his first career No. 1 qualifying position in the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
Millican claimed the top spot in Top Fuel with a run of 3.792 seconds at 321.27 mph.
Matt Hagan topped the Funny Car field, Mike Edwards qualified first in Pro Stock, and Steve Johnson led Pro Stock Motorcycle.