CUP: Hamlin Wins, Takes Points Lead

Sprint Cup

CUP: Hamlin Wins, Takes Points Lead

Denny Hamlin won his eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the year Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway...

Tom Jensen | Posted November 07, 2010 Fort Worth, TX

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin won a wild, dramatic AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, taking over the NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead with just two races to go.

It was a wild afternoon from start to finish, as Hamlin won his series-high eighth race of the year and second straight at the 1.5-mile Texas oval.

Hamlin held off Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Joey Logano and Greg Biffle to win, as Kevin Harvick finished sixth and Jimmie Johnson ninth.

Unofficially, Hamlin now leads Johnson by 33 points and Harvick by 59, with just two races left on the 2010 Cup schedule. In the six-year history of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, no driver has ever lost the lead with two races to go.

Elliott Sadler started from the pole, but Biffle took the lead on the opening lap, with four Fords in the top five early on.

Martin went to the front after a pit stop on Lap 46 during a debris caution. Hamlin got pinned in on the stop and came out 25th. It only took a couple of laps for Biffle to regain the lead, his Ford running like it was on rails.

Biffle held the point until Lap 97, when Martin went back out front. But he surrendered the top spot on Lap 104, when he pitted early under green. Biffle came in on Lap 108, allowing Johnson to lead his first lap of the race.

Johnson then pitted, but took 16.5 seconds for four tires and fuel, falling all the way to 12th. Martin was out front once the stops cycled through, David Reutimann moving into second.

On Lap 133, a caution flew after Martin Truex Jr. bounced off the Turn 4 wall and slid through the infield. Joey Logano briefly took the lead under caution, but once the green flew, Biffle was back out front.

After Truex hit the wall a second time to bring out a caution on Lap 152, Johnson had another disastrous pit stop, falling from sixth to 13th, as Logano, Biffle, Martin, Reutimann and Harvick led.

On Lap 159, Kyle Busch spun in the middle of Turn 4 to bring another yellow out. Busch was held for a lap for speeding on pit road. He showed his displeasure with an upraised middle finger, earning another two laps in the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage (Left) introduces Denny Hamlin (Center) as he shoots a Turnbull Revolvers in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Logano went back out front on Lap 177, his Toyota showing surprising speed.

On Lap 191, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Truex crashed on the backstretch to bring out another caution. Burton drilled Gordon hard, sending the No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet nose first into the wall. That led to an angry confrontation on the backstretch, Gordon shoving Burton a couple of times before cooler heads prevailed.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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