RICHMOND, Va. — Short-track racing often features a late pass for the win thanks to a driver needing to get a little physical with another.
The NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond featured a late-race pass Sunday that followed driver-to-driver contact, but the pass came on pit road.
After Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson tangled with less than two laps remaining, Denny Hamlin, in third, took the lead from Martin Truex Jr. on pit road.
Hamlin then held off Truex and several other contenders in the two-lap overtime dash to the finish to capture his second victory of the season, the 53rd of his career and his fifth career Cup victory at the 0.75-mile track that is just about 20 miles from his childhood home.
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“[Truex] was the deserving race winner there, but you give these pit crews an opportunity? This is what it is all about,” Hamlin said.
Joey Logano, Larson, Truex and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.
Takeaways on a somewhat historic day in NASCAR as it started the race on grooved wet-weather tires in damp conditions, the first time it has used the tires in a points race on an oval.
Hamlin Triumph; Truex Pain
Truex, who led 228 of the final 256 laps and had the race in hand before the late caution, left frustrated, feeling Hamlin jumped the restart by hitting the gas before he got into the restart zone.
“He jumped the start, then just used me up in Turn 1,” Truex said. “[It] definitely sucks. But a good, solid day [with] another car capable of winning.”
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer said NASCAR reviewed the restart and while it was close, NASCAR felt it was a legal restart.
Hamlin admitted it was close and felt that was the best strategy to beat his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, who was starting beside him, and Logano, who was behind him.
“I did that because I saw those guys were rolling to me,” Hamlin said. “The 22 [of Logano] was laying back [to try to get a launch]. The 19 [of Truex] was rolling a couple miles an hour quicker than I was. I wasn’t going to let them have an advantage that my team earned on pit road.
“I certainly made sure I went [when] my nose got there. But I took off right away. Still, we were side by side down the water into Turn 1.”
‘This is a team win for sure’ – Denny Hamlin after his fifth career win at Richmond
Wallace-Larson: No Hard Feelings
Wallace and Larson had a quick conversation after the race and Larson was able to smile afterward.
The two had battled at various times during the race.
“I was really content with [running] fifth — had a good run and just got loose [and] overcorrected into him,” said Wallace, who finished 13th. “I apologize to the 5 team [of Larson] — not intentional, by all means. Karma is quick in this sport for sure [as I lost spots].”
Larson had no doubt that it was unintentional and emphatically dismissed any thought that Wallace would have done that to help his team owner — Denny Hamlin — get the caution he needed to be able to challenge Truex on the final restart.
“He wasn’t being intentional — and if it was intentional, it was to help his race out to get a caution and hopefully have a good pit stop, but it didn’t work out that way,” Larson said.
“It just is what it is. Obviously, I’d be pissed off right now if I would have fully spun and would have finished in the 20s. But as he said, I had some good karma today and he had bad karma from it.”
Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace have a quick chat post-race after battling at Richmond
Wet Weather Tires
After intermittent showers in the afternoon and into the early evening at Richmond, NASCAR opted to use its wet weather tires (which have grooves in the tread) to start the race.
NASCAR had the drivers race for 30 laps before throwing the caution and then having them move to slick tires.
While NASCAR could have taken another 30-40 minutes to dry the track, they opted to use those tires and start just about 15 minutes after the scheduled start time.
“I’m glad we didn’t all just pile up in the corner,” Hamlin said. “Everyone was kind of patient the first few laps. I think it played out just how they wanted it. I was OK with it.
“People immediately will ask, ‘Well, surely you can do this everywhere?’ You cannot do it any track that we run faster than this one. It was just uncomfortable enough entering Turn 1 at those speeds with it being wet. It was executed just how they wanted. I thought the drivers did it perfectly.”
Sawyer said NASCAR was pleased.
“The main thing is we were able to get the race started, get going — our fans at home got to view the race as well as the fans here are the track,” Sawyer said. “So goal accomplished.”
FINAL LAPS: Denny Hamlin wins the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond after eventful finish
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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