Denny Hamlin invincible at Pocono

If we are sometimes accustomed to saying, “you shouldn't be late” regarding exciting sporting events, this time, in Pocono, it was quite the opposite. Everything happened at the end of the race, and much later than expected, due to the delay in the start of the race following the vagaries of the sky.

With less than 50 laps to go, there is not much to report. Denny Hamlin is a quiet leader and is heading towards an almost assured victory when a period of neutralization ruins everything. The restart, 42 laps from the finish, was managed very well by Denny Hamlin but everything had to be done again since, a few seconds later, Casey Mears made a mistake and led to another neutralization.

New restart with 35 laps to go: Kyle Busch tries to gain an advantage over his Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin. The latter manages to stay in the lead, to take off again, but an accident once again disrupts the end of the race. David Ragan sends Jamie McMurray into the wall, the yellow flag is out and many drivers pit.

The classification at the head of the race was turned upside down and, after the restart 29 laps from the finish, Kurt Busch held control of the race, ahead of Sam Hornish Jr and Tony Stewart. After another restart, 22 laps from the finish, Sam Hornish Jr is ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart. Denny Hamlin, who started from eighth place following his tire change a little earlier, quickly moved up.

Hamlin comes back on Montoya and passes him, as does Kyle Busch a few seconds later. The two Gibbs Racing drivers are increasingly present at the front. Denny Hamlin returns to the two leading men. With 15 laps to go, he overtook Tony Stewart before tackling the leader, Sam Hornish Jr, whom he managed to overtake.

Hamlin is therefore back in the lead, this race is his! But an accident, less than two laps from the finish, further disrupted his progress. Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano touch each other, the latter releases a cloud of smoke as he goes across but manages to avoid the wall. This does not prevent further neutralization.

At the last restart, two laps from the finish, Denny Hamlin immediately took the advantage over Kyle Busch, the latter managing to hold off Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick. The last lap arrives, we move towards a single file finish? But Kasey Kahne makes a mistake in the grass while trying to overtake Allmendinger and goes across the middle of the peloton. He was hit by Mark Martin and caused a huge pileup, which involved around ten cars.

While Joey Logano comes to seek explanations from Kevin Harvick after the race, Denny Hamlin can savor his victory, celebrated in a certain confusion. Second, Kyle Busch gives the Joe Gibbs Racing team the double. “ I thought we were heading towards a quiet victory and when I saw that we were going for a shootout (additional rounds), I was quite annoyed, confides Hamlin. Fortunately, I had a great car, and it was very efficient at the best moment, at the end of the race. »