Hamlin continues JGR dominance as No. 20 team wins third consecutive plate race
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For much of Friday night's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, there were four men swapping the lead or racing in a pack. Of course, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were in the mix, as were JR Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards.
Points leader Clint Bowyer was also moving in and out of the group. But with the laps winding down, it appeared to be another of what has become a standard race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race this season. JGR's No. 20 car, this week driven by Hamlin, was in the lead with Busch behind him. Earnhardt Jr. and Busch were battling for that second spot from time to time, but the race appeared to belong to Hamlin.
Then Colin Braun lost control of his Roush Fenway Racing Ford on the backstretch - and set up a green-white-checkered finish.
Hamlin pulled away and went unchallenged on those final two laps as the top four stayed in line to the finish. He won the Winn-Dixie 250 to continue what has been a stunning run through the series for the JGR No. 20 car. The team has won nine of the 18 series races this season.
"It feels good to do this in my last ride [in this car] … Got to thank Kyle for sticking with me right there at the end," Hamlin said after the win. "The only way we weren't going to win was if he went for the win in the end."
Hamlin's victory continued the No. 20 team's dominance for the season and gave the team its third consecutive restrictor-plate win. The team has won with four different drivers this season - three times with Hamlin.
Busch settled for second for his ninth top-10 finish in 18 races this season.
As he thought about his victory, Hamlin said that he knew he could take the win - if Busch was willing to stay with him.
"Kyle's got a lot of fire in him, he wants to win races no matter what …I knew he could go for the win and maybe not succeed. As long as he stuck on our rear bumper, there was no way we weren't going to have 1-2 finish," he said.
Edwards and Bowyer were confused on the final restart when NASCAR ruled that the Bowyer team was in front of Edwards and reset them on the final restart. Edwards then slid off the track briefly heading into Turn 1 and ended up finishing 11th.
Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Bowyer and JR Motorsports' Brad Keselowski. Steve Wallace tagged Mike Wallace coming to the finish line, causing Wallace to spin across the frontstretch grass as the flag waved for Hamlin.
