Virginia native, Denny Hamlin, is hoping that two-straight wins at his home track, Richmond International Raceway, will propel him back into Victory Lane in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup event.
On Thursday night Hamlin came from the back of the field to win his charity race when rival Kyle Busch ran out of fuel on the last lap.
Ironically, on Friday night, he almost lost the victory in the Nationwide race, while leading 199-laps of the 251-lapper, when he was running low on gas. Fortune smiled his way with a very late yellow flag after an unusually clean race.
That allowed him to make an insurance pit stop.
"It’s been good for sure," said Denny Hamlin. "Obviously, we knew this was a big weekend in general for myself to kind of get back on track on the Cup side. I needed a few good nights before the Cup race to kind of get the ball rolling so everything has been good so far this week. Obviously, the win last night and then tonight was a little bit bigger so hopefully we just continue that ladder."
Driving a Toyota, Denny Hamlin claimed his 11th career Nationwide victory finishing ahead of the Chevrolet of Paul Menard. Justin Allgaier, who finished third took over the points lead in NASCAR’s junior circuit. Elliott Sadler finished fourth and Brad Keselowski finished fifth.
When Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had been leading the points coming into the race, ran out of gas on lap 243 it set up a restart where Menard had one last shot at Hamlin, but, Hamlin held him off.
Denny Hamlin says he’s ready to complete the hat trick and return to championship contending form.
"No one is going to put any more pressure on myself than me," said Hamlin. "I’m my own worst critic, no doubt about it. We need this weekend to kind of get back on track and I think it’s the perfect time to do it."
On Thursday night Hamlin came from the back of the field to win his charity race when rival Kyle Busch ran out of fuel on the last lap.
Ironically, on Friday night, he almost lost the victory in the Nationwide race, while leading 199-laps of the 251-lapper, when he was running low on gas. Fortune smiled his way with a very late yellow flag after an unusually clean race.
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| Denny Hamlin ahead of Paul Menard in the last lap - Image: nascar.com |
That allowed him to make an insurance pit stop.
"It’s been good for sure," said Denny Hamlin. "Obviously, we knew this was a big weekend in general for myself to kind of get back on track on the Cup side. I needed a few good nights before the Cup race to kind of get the ball rolling so everything has been good so far this week. Obviously, the win last night and then tonight was a little bit bigger so hopefully we just continue that ladder."
Driving a Toyota, Denny Hamlin claimed his 11th career Nationwide victory finishing ahead of the Chevrolet of Paul Menard. Justin Allgaier, who finished third took over the points lead in NASCAR’s junior circuit. Elliott Sadler finished fourth and Brad Keselowski finished fifth.
When Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had been leading the points coming into the race, ran out of gas on lap 243 it set up a restart where Menard had one last shot at Hamlin, but, Hamlin held him off.
Denny Hamlin says he’s ready to complete the hat trick and return to championship contending form.
"No one is going to put any more pressure on myself than me," said Hamlin. "I’m my own worst critic, no doubt about it. We need this weekend to kind of get back on track and I think it’s the perfect time to do it."