CONCORD, N.C. — Denny Hamlin claimed his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race win on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
It was also the first win in the All-Star Race for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“Everyone worked hard for this win,” crew chief Dave Rogers said. “I’m so proud to be a part of this team.”
Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch finished second and third. Jeff Gordon was fourth and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.
When the race field was reset to reflect the average finish for each driver in each of the four 25-lap segments before mandatory four-tire pit stops and the 10-lap sprint to the finish, Hamlin was placed sixth in the running order with Brad Keselowski in first, Busch second, Kasey Kahne third, Harvick fourth and Jeff Gordon fifth.
Hamlin’s team, though, was able to get him from sixth to first on pit road during the mandatory stop to restart first for the final 10 laps. Keselowski got off pit road second but was sent to the back after getting caught speeding on pit road.
“I knew when I came out of my pit stall and the 11 (Hamlin) was pulling out with me that I either beat him to that line or lose the race, and the penalty was that I was 0.3 mph over the speed limit. But I told my crew chief I’d rather go down swinging than take a strike and wonder what might have been,” Keselowski said.
Hamlin’s team pulled off a pit stop of 10.4 seconds for the lead that led to the win.
“That’s all there is to it,” Hamlin said. “The pit crew did an amazing job. The number one pit stall also helped us. I knew it was fast when they went over to the left side.”
Harvick got up to second when the race restarted and ran right behind Hamlin before the winner pulled away in the closing laps to finish ahead of Harvick by 0.923 of a second.
“I moved up and changed lines, and when I changed lines, the car just took off,” Hamlin said.
Keselowski led 41 laps throughout the first three segments before losing the lead on pit road when Kenseth and Hamlin took two tires for track position before the fourth segment. Kenseth lost positions in the running order when the race restarted and Busch moved up to second and then eventually took the lead from Hamlin.
Busch pulled away and then Harvick moved into second to give Stewart-Haas Racing the top two spots in the running order at the end of segment four. Hamlin finished third in the fourth segment.
“What a great night for the Haas Automation Chevy,” Busch said. “We won a segment but not the right one. I don’t know why we’re standing here in third. I thought we were a better car than that.”
Keselowski was the leader at the end of the third of four 25-lap segment.
Keselowski maintained his lead in the closing laps of the segment by holding off Harvick, who got by Busch in the final laps of the segment and closed in on Keselowski before running out of steam.
Harvick finished the third segment in second, Busch third, Logano fourth and Kahne fifth.
Jamie McMurray began the third segment with the lead with a two-tire pit strategy at the end of the previous segment. The call didn’t pan out as McMurray was passed by Keselowski and Busch as soon as the race restarted and continued to give up positions throughout the segment.
Hamlin started on the pole and led until he was passed by Kahne on Lap 15 of the first segment of the race. Kahne led the rest of the 25-lap segment but lost positions to Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on pit road between segments one and two after Keselowski and Earnhardt took only two tires while the other drivers took four.
With the two-tire strategy, Keselowski and Earnhardt started segment two on the front row. Keselowski ran up front throughout the segment, leading all but one lap of the second 25 laps, with the one other lap of the segment being led by Busch.
Busch started the segment from the third spot but quickly got up to second and battled Keselowski throughout segment two. Earnhardt, though, wasn’t able to stay near the front, dropping positions throughout the segment and falling outside the top 10 by the end of the second segment.