Hamlin wins in overtime as Truex misses out

Truex Jr had looks comfortable what had been a very uneventful race – leading 228 of the 407 laps – until Kyle Larson got spun off by Bubba Wallace with one lap remaining which sent the race into overtime.

All of the lead lap cars elected to pit for new tyres under the caution and Hamlin beat Truex off pitroad to lead the way on the restart.

Hamlin got a good jump on Truex to clear for the lead, and Truex raced hard with Larson and Logano through Turns 1 and 2. Hamlin edged Logano by 0.269 seconds at the chequered flag to secure his second win of the season, ahead of Larson in third and Truex in fourth.

After taking the chequered flag, an upset Truex rammed into Larson entering Turn 1 and then bumped Hamlin’s car from behind three times on the cooldown lap.

The win is the 53rd of Hamlin’s career and the fifth at his home track of Richmond.

“I’ve had the best pit crew all year long. I loved our chances,” Hamlin said, about going into overtime. “We still had Martin [Truex Jr] – he was the deserving race winner there, but you give these pitcrews an opportunity – this is what it is all about. You have to have your whole team put together – and they just killed it today.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry

Photo by: David Rosenblum / NKP / Motorsport Images

“We were close all day long. We kept the leader right there close to us, but just couldn’t quite get there. It was so excruciatingly hard to pass. It made it really difficult – even with newer tyres. I needed that kind of situation in the end to be able to win it.

“We have high aspirations this year and how many wins we can get, and this is putting us right on track.”

Behind the front four, Chase Elliott rounded out the top five, ahead of Christopher Bell and William Byron, as Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick completed the top 10.

A small piece of NASCAR Cup history occurred on Stage 1, as with light rain still in the area, teams started the race on wet weather tyres, marking the first time in history that the series raced competitively on an oval in damp conditions.

NASCAR Cup Richmond – Race results