Photos by Kenny Moore
For the first time, Denny Hamlin celebrates in Victory Lane at Richmond International Raceway.

Hamlin gets first win at Richmond
BY SARA PAGE


May 02, 2008

Late pit proved pivitol for Hamlin

A tough call by crew chief Dave Rogers led to celebration for hometown favorite Denny Hamlin at Richmond International Raceway on Friday night in the Lipton Iced Tea 250 Nationwide race.

The caution flag flew in lap 229 when Derrick Cope and Eric McClure tangled in the front straight away. With 21 laps to go the question for all of the lead lap cars became pit for tires and risk track position or not take tires and risk them not holding out.

Race leader Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards in the second position and Mike Bliss in the fourth position decided to risk the old tires while Denny Hamlin, in the no. 3 position led the rest of the lead lap drivers to pit road and that’s where Hamlin took off. The pit crew for the no. 20 rattled off a 15 second stop. It was up to the driver from there.

Hamlin came up to first after the seventh caution of the evening, taking the top line in turn two and then turn three to gain the second then first positions. All he had to do was hold on and hold on he did – through a final caution and a green, white, checker finish.

“We weren’t that good the first of the day but they just kept making the car better and better through the day,” Hamlin said when he finally climbed out of the car in victory lane. “When those guys decided to stay out and not take tires, I knew it was our race to lose.”

Harvick dominated most of the evening, leading 98 laps, but the decision to not take tires in the sixth caution ended up costing him as he watched Hamlin coast past and ultimately take his final half second lead.

Hamlin’s teammate Kyle Busch came from a lap down to claim third. For the top three it is now a question of whether they can ride momentum into Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

“It seems like we never win whether we have the best car or not,” Hamlin said. “We had a third place car all day and – just circumstances came our way.”

Hamlin started the race in third position and fell as far as seventh before blasting to the top.

Sara Page is the sports editor for the Midlothian Exchange.

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