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Gibbs driver passes Bowyer, then holds off Montoya to post 3rd career win at track.
Denny Hamlin is sprayed with champagne and beer after winning the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Monday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. The victory was his third win at Pocono.
Fred adams/for the times leader
LONG POND – Bad luck tried once again to ruin Denny Hamlin’s day at Pocono Raceway.
On lap 63, he hit – of all things – part of the caution light that inexplicitly fell from its perch at the start/finish line.
Then on lap 174, he triggered but escaped a crash that damaged the racecars of David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose.
But with a dogged determination and a dominant car, Hamlin endured.
“I said in my mind that I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than a win,” Hamlin said. “With every corner I went in, that was 120 percent.”
Hamlin passed Clint Bowyer with 10 laps remaining, and then held off a brief challenge from Juan Pablo Montoya to win the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 on Monday.
The victory was Hamlin’s fifth in his 136-race NASCAR Sprint Cup career and third at Pocono. He won both races in 2006.
It was also his first victory in a season where he has heard and been bothered somewhat by criticism.
“A lot of it is from what I read,” said the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota owned by Joe Gibbs. “We can’t close. We led how many laps and not got a race win. That’s pressure that I put on myself. I read too much into it.
“In the big, grand scheme of things, we’ve been the most solid car that hasn’t had a Hendrick label on it. You know, for the most part I take a lot of pride in that. We’re taking strides forward starting today.”
Hamlin’s Pocono 500 race in June was mired from the get-go. A faulty water pump tossed him in a hole early and he finished a season-worst 38th.
Monday, though, was quite different.
Hamlin led 81 of the first 190 laps, putting his car out front five times. He lost the lead to Mark Martin on lap 144 of the 200-lap race, and was 13th on lap 170 as quirky pit strategy by other drivers and untimely cautions shuffled up the field.
After a five-car accident set up a 13-lap shootout, Hamlin found himself in sixth. He sliced through the field quickly and passed then-leader Bowyer on lap 190.
“Of course, you want to win. I was trying to win,” said Bowyer, who finished third. “I was kind of a sitting duck. Once they caught me, they caught me. But we did the best we could.
“Just like you always do, you give it 100 percent. Sometimes it’s good enough. Sometimes it’s not.”
Montoya made a charge in the final laps after passing Bowyer for second, but his pursuit faded and didn’t pressure Hamlin much.
It was the second week in a row Montoya just missed a victory. A pit-road speeding penalty quelled a dominant performance at Indianapolis, yet he took everything in stride.
“Ifs and buts out, my goal is making the Chase,” said Montoya, who moved from 10th to eighth in the driver standings. “That’s the bigger picture. If I make the Chase, they won’t remember this guy won the race, this one didn’t.
“(Kyle Busch) won three races this year. He’s probably like 150 points out or something. You know what I mean?”
Sam Hornish Jr. finished a career-high fourth followed by Kasey Kahne.
NOTES: Mike Wallace was blacked flagged after 13 laps for not having a pit crew. He still came away with over $64,000. … Eight drivers failed to finish the race. … Reutimann was the biggest loser in the standings, dropping three spots to 16th. … Kahne led 35 laps, second to Hamlin’s 91. …The infield crowd was down significantly after the rain was postponed Sunday, but the grandstands were just about filled.