Hamlin hangs on as rain halts race with 20 laps remaining

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. 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 staring down Busch.

One of Busch’s crew members sat between them on the wall and NASCAR eventually ordered everyone back over the wall. Eight minutes later, the race was called and Busch was greeted by Alan Gustafson, Elliott’s crew chief and Busch’s former crew chief when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports, for a conversation between two masked competitors.

Busch immediately copped to the error.

“There’s no question I made a mistake and just misjudged the gap,” Busch said. “They’re upset, they’re mad. I’m not just going to fix and we’re going to go have ice cream tomorrow. They’re going to dwell on it and I’m sure there are repercussions of it I’m going to have down the road.”

Meanwhile, a fox was scampering across the deserted track and Hamlin, wearing a mask that depicted his actual smile, was having a muted celebration in the rain.

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.

XFINITY: Chase Briscoe capped a heartbreaking week by winning the series’ return to action at Darlington Raceway on Thursday.

Briscoe was in the Darlington infield Tuesday awaiting the race’s original start when he digitally joined wife, Marissa, for a 12-week exam for their expected baby. The couple heard the tragic news: There was no fetal heartbeat. “The worst news I could’ve heard,” Briscoe posted on Instagram on Wednesday.

Still, Briscoe was in the lineup for the series’ first action since March 7 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and used two strong restarts and a quick pit stop to finish on top. He got the lead out of the pits during the final caution, then pulled away from Kyle Busch and Justin Allgaier on the subsequent restart with seven laps to go for his fourth career win and second this season.

“This is the biggest day of my life after the toughest day of my life,” Briscoe said.

Busch was second, Allgaier third, Austin Cindric fourth and Noah Gragson, the pole sitter who won the first stage, was fifth.

BRYNN ANDERSON / ASSOCIATED PRESS Denny Hamlin, who also won the Daytona 500 this year, earned his third career win at Darlington Raceway on Wednesday after the race was stopped by rain with 20 laps remaining. It was NASCAR’s first Cup race on a Wednesday since 1984.