Denny Hamlin – The White Zone

The Championship 4 columns I didn’t get to publish

Mike Wilson, who covers Tennessee athletics for the Knoxville News Sentinel, once told me that sometimes the game story you don’t publish is better than the game story you do.

In the leadup to the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, I wrote four columns on the Championship 4 drivers to publish based on who won. Because Kyle Busch took home the glory, that was the one I published at the conclusion on Sunday’s race.

I’d hate to see my work on those other three go to waste, however. So I’m publishing them all in this piece.

They’re in order of where the other three drivers finished on Sunday.

Some of the numbers in these will be a little off, because I wrote them two or three weeks before the season ended.

Without further adieu, here’s the columns that didn’t go public.

The White Zone: Truex cements spot in hall of fame with second championship

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Nov. 17: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, pits during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17, 2019 in Homestead, Fla. Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Six years ago, Martin Truex Jr. sat on his front porch and thought his career was over.

And why wouldn’t he? After the black eye to NASCAR that was spin gate and the departure of his sponsor, NAPA, in response to the events of Sept. 7, 2013 at Richmond Raceway, his career hit rock bottom. A ride came calling in the form of Barney Visser, who offered him the seat of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing machine that Kurt Busch drove to a playoff berth.

From his worst full-time season of his professional career to his girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, 2014 for Truex has been well documented at this point; as has his career resurrection.

Fast-forward to Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he *quick summary of his race* to win his second Cup Series championship.

With his stats, his case for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame is now a matter of whether he’ll go in on his first ballot. Not if he’ll make it in, period.

He’s the 16th different driver to win multiple Cup championships and ninth to do so with different owners (Furniture Row and Joe Gibbs Racing).

Of the 33 drivers that’ve won a championship, only nine have more than Truex. And only Jimmie Johnson isn’t in the hall yet, because he’s still active.

His 26 career victories put him 30th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Fred Lorenzen. Only six drivers ahead of him on the wins list — Earnhardt, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Johnson — aren’t in the hall yet.

In the last five seasons, only Busch (26) has more wins in the Cup Series than Truex (24).

If you still have doubt after taking all of this into consideration, I don’t know what else to tell you.

That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

The White Zone: Kevin Harvick cements place as NASCAR legend with second title

Tragedy thrust Kevin Harvick into the ride of a NASCAR legend. Now, after winning championship No. 2, “Happy Harvick” joins the ranks of that legend.

*details of Harvick’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway* to win the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Now granted, Harvick had long since broken out of the shadow of Dale Earnhardt — whom he replaced at Richard Childress Racing, following his fatal wreck on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 — with his first Cup Series championship in 2014. And given that his numbers make him one of the elite drivers of the 2010s (more on that later), it’s foolish to say, otherwise.

But with this second championship, he’s now on par with the legends of NASCAR, including “The Intimidator.”

He’s now the 16th different driver to win multiple championships in NASCAR’s top series. For context, only 33 drivers have ever won a single Cup Series championship. His 50th career win, a feat accomplished by only 13 other drivers, moves him into a tie with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 12th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.

And just like Earnhardt, Harvick is one of the elite drivers of his era.

Consider this: 39 of his 50 wins have come since 2010, as have 143 of his 204 top fives and 231 of his 360 top 10s. In that same span, only Kyle Busch has as many wins and nobody has more top fives and top 10s.

If even now, you still don’t believe Harvick is a NASCAR legend, there’s nothing that will convince you.

That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

The White Zone: Hamlin is finally a champion

Just nine days ago, Denny Hamlin said he’d be fine with going down as this generation’s Mark Martin. Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he accomplished what the aforementioned NASCAR Hall of Fame member couldn’t.

*details of his race at Homestead* to win the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

No longer will the 38 career victories include the goose egg in the championship column. Now, he’s among 34 drivers who’ve won a championship in NASCAR’s top series. For context, 2,935 different drivers have started at least one race in the Cup Series. Among that 98.84 percent of drivers who never won a championship is the aforementioned Martin, who finished runner-up five times.

Just like the Washington Nationals did a month ago against the Houston Astros in the World Series, Hamlin squashed the ghosts of his past; be it the stretch of poor finishes in 2006, 2009 and 2012, or missing the mark on fuel at ISM Raceway in Phoenix in 2012 that let Jimmie Johnson back into the picture to win his fifth consecutive championship.

And then there was 2018, where he went winless for the first time in his career, while teammate Kyle Busch had a career season.

Coming into this season, Hamlin’s future was in doubt. 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. made the jump to Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch was coming off his fourth consecutive Championship 4 appearance and it was unlikely Coach Joe Gibbs would part with a generational talent like Erik Jones.

True, Hamlin was signed through 2020, but with Christopher Bell coming up through the pipeline, the writing was on the wall: Win or find a new ride.

And win he did.

From the emotional roller coaster of winning the Daytona 500 just weeks after the death of J.D. Gibbs to putting on a clinic in a must-win situation at Phoenix last Sunday, he got the job done.

Hamlin, who turns 39 on Monday, could retire and have an excellent case for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Whether he goes in on his first ballot is debatable.

What he’ll never hear again, however, is that, like Martin, he couldn’t get the job done.

That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

TOP IMAGE: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Piece of tape denies Hamlin championship at Homestead

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story identified Denny Hamlin’s crew chief as Chris Lambert.

Denny Hamlin’s evening in South Florida was a tale of the tape, in the literal sense.

While teammate Kyle Busch earned the glory Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hamlin made an unscheduled stop with 46 laps to go, because of a piece of tape placed on his grille that overheated the engine.

“Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) is really aggressive with his calls and he tried to add some tape there and it just overheated,” he said. “All of my gauges were pegged and they peg it up a really high number so we weren’t going to make it.

He left pit road in 19th, one lap down.

While he worked his way back onto the lead lap, barring a caution from someone else or wrecking a lapped car, as I jokingly tweeted, he wasn’t getting back into the championship fight.

His career-best season ended with a 10th-place finish, last among the Championship 4 drivers.

It’s the fourth time in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career Hamlin’s left Homestead empty handed in the championship column.

If this was the toughest defeat of the four, he said it was “tough to say,” no pun intended, then pivoted to “probably not.”

“I mean, I don’t think I could have done a better job,” he said. “I don’t think I could have — I didn’t leave anything out there. So for the first half of the race we just weren’t fast enough, we weren’t handling very good, and all of a sudden it went nighttime and we took off, and suddenly I perked up and got a little more and was thinking that we’ve got a chance.”

As mentioned before, Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 capped off a career season in every category, except in laps led, wins and points finish. Along with his six wins, he finished top five 19 times and 24 times in the top 10, and had his career best average finish at 9.5. He ends the 2019 season fourth in points, 13 back of Busch.

When asked if this season felt different, he said “they’re all different.”

“They’re in a different time, they’re in different circumstances,” he said. “They’re all so different. But certainly I’ve had my fair share of being responsible for not winning at times, but I was confident I did everything that I possibly could. I kept us in the game when we were not very good at the beginning of the race. We stayed in it, stayed in it, had a good restart, took the lead, and then just kind of hung with Kyle there and made a little mistake on that restart and gave the lead back to him.

“But you know, they’re all different. I don’t know how it’s going to be. I just am really excited with the group that we have, what we can do next year and get another shot at it. It’s definitely not a do-or-die situation. It’s going to be okay, and we’re going to be strong, and I guarantee you it’s going to motivate Chris even more than what he already is.”

TOP IMAGE: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Kyle Busch completes historic team season with 2nd title and win at Homestead

Kyle Busch didn’t tear up the flag celebrating this time, though that didn’t stop him from performing a burnout.

“I wanted to get a good shot with the flag everywhere, make sure everybody could get a good shot of the flag because we’re the 2019 champions,” he said.

He then hopped out of his car surrounded by photographers, TV cameras and his family, and celebrated a historic team season.

Busch correctly timed his final trip to pit road, cycled ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and drove away to win both the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“This TRD engine was awesome tonight,” he said. “It’s been awesome all year. We had one issue. But, man, it’s so much fun to work with these guys, this group, everybody that puts it all together for me.”

It’s his 56th career victory in 534th start and second win in 15 at Homestead. He breaks a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for ninth on NASCAR’s all-time Cup Series wins list.

It was the 19th win in 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing, which sets a NASCAR modern era record for the most wins by a single team. Given how the season started with the death of J.D. Gibbs, Busch’s championship is a poetic cap to 2019.

“I know it’s been a difficult time on Melissa (Gibbs, J.D. widow) and Joe (Gibbs, team owner). To be able to reward them with a championship, I don’t know how much it means to them, but it’s the best I can do,” Busch said.

“I know J.D. was looking down on us all year long. I mean, damn, what a season Joe Gibbs Racing put together. For as awesome as our group is, everybody back in the shop, how awesome they are at building some really, really special race cars. We put it on them this time.”

Busch the 16th different driver to win multiple championships in the Cup Series.

He led a race-high 120 laps. The second time a Championship 4 driver has led the most laps in a race at Homestead in the Championship 4 era.

Martin Truex Jr. led 103 laps and had the car to beat in the first half of the race. But then he made an unscheduled stop on Lap 123, because his crew lost track of which tire went on which end.

All he could do from there was “try to forget about it and make it up.”

Which he did, thanks to a timely caution that put him back on the lead lap. He worked his up to fourth at the end of the second stage.

“We restarted the third stage in third, and really wish I could have been either second or fourth,” Truex said. “I got blitzed on the outside by (Erik Jones) and (Joey Logano) and a couple of those guys, and then I had to just run the crap out of my right front to get by back them, and I got tight on that run, and it took me forever to just get by a few cars.

“I lost a bunch of ground on that run because of getting tight in traffic and then just was too far back to make anything happen the last run.”

Truex worked his way back to the lead with just over 50 laps to go, but that was a result of pit stops. He finished the day in second.

“Ultimately it came down to track position, and I felt like if I could have been up front and controlled the race, I could have drove away from them,” he said.

“At the end we were quite a bit quicker, but it’s just — it was too much of a gap. Yeah, it’s part of the deal. You’ve got to be perfect, you know, and one mistake probably cost us a shot at it.”

Erik Jones ran an “up and down” race and rounded out the podium.

“It really started pretty far off and just got our car really good by the end,” he said. “I was feeling pretty confident the last stage. We were able to pick up a lot of ground and had the fastest car for a little bit, but got in the wall one too many times and didn’t have a shot at the end. It was a good day. Those guys are the best – the 18 (Busch) and the 19 (Truex), so to run with them was a good feeling. The DeWalt Camry was good at the end. It was nice to finish off the year strong because the last two here haven’t been very good to us, so it was good.”

Kevin Harvick stayed out the longest of the Championship 4 drivers on the final pit cycle, trying to “do something different,” but it wasn’t enough and he came home fourth.

“(The Gibbs Toyota’s) were so much better than us on the long run, that was our best chance, to have a caution there at the end and we never got one,” he said.

Defending series champion Joey Logano didn’t have the speed to play spoiler to the Championship 4 drivers and rounded out the top five.

“Maybe a late-race restart would could have made some magic happen, but fifth was the best we were gonna do,” he said. “That was about the highest we got all race long and apparently all year long as well because we were fifth in points, so it was a strong year. It wasn’t a championship year. We want to be better, but we’ll move on.”

Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 10.

Race summary

First stage

Hamlin led the field to green at 3:32 p.m. Harvick powered by him going into Turn 1 to take the lead.

He pulled to a 1.5 second lead over Hamlin, until Truex overtook him for second on Lap 13. Truex then reeled in Harvick until he passed him in Turn 2 on Lap 21.

Harvick and Busch hit pit road on Lap 36, rather than run the full fuel run of 60 laps. Hamlin followed suit on Lap 37, as did Truex two laps later. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pitted from the lead on Lap 40. Truex cycled back to the front and drove on to win the first stage.

Stage 2

Busch overtook Truex down the backstretch on Lap 87 to lead a lap, but Truex usurped him to go back to the front.

Hamlin hit pit road on Lap 118. Harvick and Busch did so, too, two laps later. Truex pitted from the lead on Lap 121, but Busch cycled to the lead.

Truex made an unscheduled stop on Lap 123, because the tires were on the wrong sides.

Disaster for Martin Truex Jr.!

The team switched tires on pit road, switching the right front and left front! He's now one lap down. #Championship4 pic.twitter.com/boW061Gvlk

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 17, 2019

He caught a break when John Hunter Nemechek spun in Turn 1 on Lap 136 and brought out a caution. Because he was the first car a lap down, he got back on the lead lap.

Back to green on Lap 143, Harvick passed Busch going into Turn 3 to retake the lead on Lap 145.

Coming off Turn 4 with four laps left in the stage, Harvick got loose and Busch edged him at the line. He continued by Harvick and won the stage.

Truex drove from 12th to fourth in the final 17 laps of the stage.

Rest of the race

Denny Hamlin surged ahead of Busch going into Turn 1 on Lap 168, and aged him at the line to officially lead the lap. Busch overtook him down the backstretch to lead the 171st lap.

Hamlin pitted from second with 58 laps to go. Busch pitted from the lead with 57 to go. Truex pitted from the lead with 53 to go. Harvick pitted with 45 to go and Busch cycled to the lead.

Hamlin’s engine spewed water with 50 to go, because of a piece of tape placed in the wrong spot on the grille. He pitted four laps later.

“All of my gauges were pegged and they peg it up a really high number so we weren’t going to make it,” he said.

What else happened.

Aside from the aforementioned Nemechek spin, not much else happened.

Tidbits

Daniel Hemric took home Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors with a 12th-place finish.

Aric Almirola, Bowyer and Dillon were the only three winers from 2018 to go winless in 2019.

Nuts and bolts

The race lasted two hours, 48 minutes and 47 seconds, at an average speed of 142.654 mph. It’s the fastest Cup Series race in track history, beating the 2012 race by nine seconds.

There were 14 lead changes among five different drivers and three cautions for 15 laps.

Busch ends the season with a five-point lead over Truex.

The Cup Series goes silent for the next 91 days. It returns to action on Feb. 16, with the 62nd running of the Daytona 500.

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TOP IMAGE: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Hamlin advances to championship round with clinic at Phoenix

In the media center at ISM Raceway in Phoenix on Friday, Denny Hamlin said that he would be OK with going down as this generation’s Mark Martin; a driver who’s among the winningest drivers in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history, but never won a championship.

“I think Mark Martin said it best, ‘You can still be respected and still have a really successful career without winning a championship,’” Hamlin said. “I read that he thinks about now that he’s 60 years old, he looks back and thinks would a championship make any difference in my life right now? He says, ‘No, it wouldn’t.’”

Come next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hamlin might not go down as such.

He took the lead from Joey Logano a few laps after the restart to commence the final stage to win the Bluegreen Vacations 500.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “This race team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve to be there. I put them in a bad hole last week. I told them today in the meeting, I said, ‘I’m going to give everything I’ve got to make up for the mistake I made last week.’ That’s all I got.”

It’s his 37th career victory in his 505th career start.

It capped off a day in which he won the first stage and led a race-high of 143 laps.

It didn’t come without a late scare, however, as caution flew with 10 laps remaining.

“Shit. *laughter* (I thought) That was it,” he said.

He took just two tires and exited pit road with the lead. He chose to restart on the top line, so that he’d have the high-side, if he went into Turn 1 side-by-side.

“I thought that I’d seen Kyle (Busch) get a pretty good run and the traction stuff on a few restarts,” he said. “I saw it in a few restarts in the Truck race, as well.

“I just thought if I was going to be at a deficit of grip versus my competition, I had the option to go up there and get more. It was going to be a longer distance, but I had the option to go up there and get the grip they didn’t have.”

AVONDALE, Ariz. – NOVEMBER 10: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, leads Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway on Nov. 10, 2019 in Avondale, Ariz. Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Kyle Busch led the first 69 laps, but lost the lead when he opted to pit under the first caution. His car didn’t handle as well in dirty air and brought his car home second.

“Just didn’t quite have enough,” Busch said. “I knew (Hamlin) was the best car in practice. I knew we were going to be about third to fifth. We were second. Guys did a great job, this M&M Camry was good. Thanks to everybody at JGR, Stanley, Toyota, TRD.”

Despite his 21-race winless streak, he advanced to the Championship 4 for the fifth straight year.

“It’s cool to have a chance to go race for a championship,” he said. “Just keep coming up short.”

Ryan Blaney didn’t get the help he needed to make the Championship 4 on points. So he needed to win to advance. On the final restart, however, four tires wasn’t enough to beat Hamlin and he failed to qualify.

“I thought I got an okay start, but (Busch) got a better one and got inside of me, and honestly the top is so dominant, especially if you’re on two, you’re kind of just sliding up from the bottom, and he was obviously the best car all day,” Blaney said. “Just needed the lead and I might have been able to pinch him through (Turns) 1 and 2, and you never know. But it’s not enough.”

Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

Harvick advanced with his win last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Fourth, however, wasn’t enough for Larson.

“…(Hamlin) was obviously really fast…we were running around fifth to seventh all day, and that’s kind of what I thought we had for speed yesterday or the other day in practice,” Larson said. That’s what we ran. Would have liked to have restarted on top that final one. I couldn’t really make the (PJ1) work throughout our run, but for the first few laps I knew it would be really grippy up there, I was just always stuck on the bottom. I was able to get clear after we ran a lap and got around (Harvick) and (Martin Truex Jr.), I think, up there. But yeah, you know, it was a so-so day, but able to finish fourth. Obviously we needed a win, but didn’t get that done.”

Truex, Erik Jones, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

Logano entered with a 23-point cushion over the cutline. At one point, he had the dominant car, leading 93 laps. Then the handling went away.

“I went from a car that could lead and win a stage and run really well, and from what they told me, it was an air pressure adjustment made it go from a winning car to can’t stay on the lead lap, and one of the tightest things I’ve ever driven,” Logano said. “I don’t really understand it. It doesn’t make any sense. You change tires and change a half pint of air, that sounds ridiculous.”

Combined with Hamlin’s win, Logano lost his chance to defend his 2018 championship.

“It is what it is,” he said. “Just wasn’t our year to make it, I guess. But we’ll fight for fifth, I guess, in points for this year, and we’ll move on. It stinks. It hurts a little bit, but we’ll live.”

Race summary

Stage 1

Kyle Busch led the first 69 laps of the first stage. He lost the lead under caution, when Brad Keselowski opted not to pit. Exiting Turn 4, Denny Hamlin powered by on his outside to take the lead and win the stage.

Stage 2

Joey Logano powered by Chase Elliott on the outside exiting Turn 2 to take the lead on Lap 84 and won the second stage.

Final stage

Hamlin powered underneath Logano in Turns 3 & 4 to retake the lead on Lap 178. He lost the lead briefly during the final cycle of green flag pit stops, when Kurt Busch overtook him while he stayed out with 64 laps to go. He pitted with 60 to go and the lead cycled back to Hamlin.

Playoff drivers

Chase-Elliott-11.10.19 — AVONDALE, Ariz. – NOVEMBER 10: The #9 NAPA Autocare Center Chevrolet, driven by Chase Elliott (not pictured), is towed back to the garage area following an on-track incident during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway on Nov. 10, 2019 in Avondale, Ariz. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

On Lap 166, his car got loose in Turn 1, after his left-rear tire was cut, and rear-ended the outside wall.

It was a microcosm of his performance in the Round of 8. He blew an engine in practice at Martinsville Speedway, then broke a rear axle in the race two weeks ago. He followed it up with an early wreck at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday.

“I hate it for our NAPA group,” he said. “We had a decent NAPA Chevy today. It was really tough in traffic to catch guys and then pass and whatnot. But I feel like we were in a good position to run solid. I’m not sure why we had a tire go down. I think that’s what happened, at least; it seemed like it.”

What else happened

It was a lackluster race, given the hype that proceeded it, and demonstrated the follies of the aero package on shorter tracks.

Nuts and bolts

The race lasted two hours and 48 minutes, at an average speed of 111.429 mph. There were eight lead changes among five different drivers and five cautions for 32 laps.

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TOP IMAGE: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

The White Zone: Phoenix suffered with this package

Kyle Busch summed up the race in one line Sunday at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

“Whoever gets the lead,” he said, waving his hands. “Bye-bye.”

Once again, while Denny Hamlin celebrated victory in the Bluegreen Vacations 500, the aero package that NASCAR thinks is the way of the future left us with a dud of a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on a track one mile or less in length.

Only three of the eight lead changes happened on track, under green flag conditions, and they were in close proximity of a restart. As the runs dragged on, there was no passing the leader.

It’s the product of an aero package that was built for racing on mile and a half tracks. As an unintended consequence, the racing on shorter tracks suffered.

How much more data on shorter tracks and road courses could you possibly need?

GREEN FLAG ON-TRACK PASSES FOR THE LEAD IN 2019

Phoenix: 4
Martinsville: 2
Dover: 1
Sonoma: 0
Watkins Glen: 0
Dover: 2
Martinsville: 1 https://t.co/BYxExOCNON

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) November 10, 2019

These are some of the same exact points I made about last month’s race at Dover International Speedway. Only this one leaves me more angry, because Phoenix will host the championship race in 2020 (beyond that is unknown as of this column).

Just like with Dover, I don’t put this at the feet of ISM Raceway. I’m sure track president Julie Giese and her staff do the best they can within their power to make great races happen. The fault for the dud falls on NASCAR.

NASCAR won’t move Phoenix out of the title race spot, since the schedule was set back in April. And it ruled out any changes to the 2020 package awhile back. So what do we do?

What about PJ1? It was applied to the high lines around the turns for this weekend’s events. Kevin Harvick thinks the race “would have been a lot better” if it were applied lower.

“It was just way too high, I thought,” he said. “It was closer in (Turns) one and two. I mean, it was still probably three or four feet. Probably needed to come down just a little bit in that end.

“The other end, it was seven or eight feet. It was a lot. It was a lot. I think it could definitely be beneficial. It was way too high.”

According to Ryan Blaney, however, it’s not the cure-all that it’s been at tracks like Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I thought the PJ1 did (help) a little bit, not much,” he said. “You could at least go up there and get small runs, but they weren’t big enough.”

Do we just sit back and accept that there’s nothing we can do?

If the mentions to this tweet by NASCAR executive, Steve O’Donnell, are any indication, that’s not going to happen.

Congrats ⁦@dennyhamlin⁩ Winner ⁦@ISMRaceway⁩ pic.twitter.com/JQZ7oJ20oG

— Steve O'Donnell (@odsteve) November 10, 2019

All we can hope for is that the heads in Daytona come to their senses and modify this package for shorter tracks in 2020. But like I said earlier, they ruled out any changes to it.

I’ve followed NASCAR long enough to know that some races will be duds. But given the quality of the racing on shorter tracks this season, I expected this race to be one. And I was proven right.

Just like with Dover, I’m annoyed that my cynical pessimism was validated yet again.

That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

TOP IMAGE: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

The White Zone: NASCAR needs to clamp down on crew members getting involved in fights

Every Sunday after a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, when I’m at home to watch it, I go to a pizza place in Powell, Tenn. (a few minutes outside of Knoxville).

While I scarfed down slices of pizza, two of the four TVs on the blue walls I faced were tuned to “NASCAR Victory Lap” on NBCSN. When they showed a replay of the scuffle on pit road Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, one of the patrons pointed at the screen, and his lady friend and the bartender turned to the screen as well.

The bartender let out an “OH!,” when one member of Joey Logano’s crew came up behind Denny Hamlin and pulled him down to the ground.

And for the second week in a row, we’re left asking why NASCAR allows crew members to get involved in driver fights.

Last weekend at Kansas Speedway, Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick got into a scuffle on pit road, after the XFINITY Series race, and crew members got involved and escalated the fight.

On SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive” on Monday, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said that NASCAR would look into the role of crew members in altercations.

“In those situations, the key for us is to make sure that the crew members are not coming in and escalating things,” O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “If anything, we’ve just got to go back and look and make sure that’s not the case from our perspective.

“There’s a lot on the line there for the drivers and we certainly don’t want to encourage that but understand that it gets heated at times. Our thing is to make sure crew members are not getting in there and piling on a driver so to speak vs. trying to deescalate the situation.”

Except time and time again, their involvement almost always makes the situation worse.

If you want to know what to do about it, follow the National Hockey League’s example.

In the NHL, there’s what’s known as the “Third Man In” rule, in which a player who joins in a fight between two other individuals receives a game misconduct penalty and is ejected from the game.

In NASCAR’s case, it could suspend crew members for a race or two, or longer, if they get involved in a fight with a driver.

Don’t let this get to the point where a driver gets injured. Eventually, one of these former offensive linemen getting involved will cause more than just a minor cut.

Be proactive, not reactive.

That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

TOP IMAGE: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Hamlin holds off challengers in overtime to win at Kansas

Denny Hamlin was running away with the victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway, until the right-rear tire on Ryan Blaney’s car came apart.

The game-changing caution flew with 14 laps remaining in the Hollywood Casino 400, when Blaney right-rear tire disintegrated in Turn 1. He was running up against the wall in the closing laps to make up time when he hit it, and it blew before he could make it back to pit road.

“…I could only make time at the wall and had to pound the fence to do anything,” he said. “Lap cars were running the fence and they wouldn’t give you the fence so I would lose time trying to run down. We couldn’t really run different lanes of the race track.”

Hamlin exited pit road with the race lead, by taking just two tires; as did Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson. Kyle Busch took four tires.

Track position was the biggest factor in the decision.

“As long as we could keep our car out front, it was the most important thing beyond tires,” Hamlin said.

On the ensuing restart, Hamlin bested the field to retake the lead, but a two-car wreck in Turn 2 with four laps to go sent the race into overtime.

He lined up in front of teammate Busch and alongside Erik Jones. Though it was no guarantee that any coordination between the three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers would work.

“You just hope, from my standpoint, that the person that’s behind you gives you a push,” he said. “I think that all of drivers are smart enough now to know that, like, the power is in numbers. When you start pushing down the frontstretch, through the corner, that line will go.”

On the first restart in overtime, Busch pushed him all the way into Turn 1 and he came out ahead, but a wreck coming to the white flag forced another attempt.

This time, he lined up in front of Chase Elliott.

On the final restart, Hamlin timed his jump to get a “shot” from Elliott and won the Hollywood Casino 400.

“That was the most important thing for us – to get a good restart,” he said. “Once we got out front, we could hold it wide open. Our car was built for downforce, so it worked out that it was just fast enough to win.”

It was his 36th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 502 starts.

“I was trying to make a run at Denny and we just never got our momentum up enough for me to do anything about it,” Elliott said. “And restarts, I think, were helping his cause on tires.”

He finished second and Busch rounded out the podium.

Kurt Busch and William Byron rounded out the top five.

Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10.

Brad Keselowski, Byron, Bowyer and Alex Bowman failed to make the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Playoffs.

All of the top 10 finishers started outside of the top 10.

According to the stat gurus at Racing Insights: The last time no top-10 started finished in top-10 was Daytona in July 2014, prior to that was Las Vegas in March 2007…. Only third time since 1972. #nascar

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 21, 2019

Bubble drivers

Joey Logano came to pit road on Lap 31, because of a loose wheel that he radioed a few laps earlier was vibrating.

Joey Logano falls two laps down with his unscheduled stop, P34. “That was a loose wheel,” crew chief Todd Gordon tells his driver #NASCAR

— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) October 20, 2019

He was within the fuel window to make it to the end of the first stage, however, and others hit pit road after Lap 41. This cycled him back onto the lead lap.

After caution flew on Lap 74, Logano opted not to pit.

He passed four other cars down the backstretch on the ensuing restart and drove on to win the stage.

Fighting for every spot on the restart! 😱#NASCARPlayoffs | @kansasspeedway pic.twitter.com/4Oj3Ls5QpZ

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 20, 2019

With 38 laps remaining, Hamlin put Keselowski a lap down.

A potential #NASCARPlayoffs-defining moment?@dennyhamlin puts @keselowski a lap down at @kansasspeedway! pic.twitter.com/nLYPaRgX0X

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 20, 2019

He regained his lap back, but lost too many spots in the final three restarts to remain ahead of Elliott in points and was knocked out of the playoffs.

What else happened

Kyle Larson brought out the caution on Lap 115, when he turned Joey Gase on the frontstretch.

"Kyle Larson had had enough!"

He gets into the back of Joey Gase and spins him around. Watch the #NASCARPlayoffs on @NBC: https://t.co/gOydUHFyv3 pic.twitter.com/blta56pK93

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 20, 2019

Coming to the line to end the second stage, Denny Hamlin slowed down to let Jimmie Johnson get back on the lead lap.

Denny Hamlin let Jimmie Johnson back by before the stage finish. Johnson remains on the lead lap. Free pass goes to Austin Dillon instead.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) October 20, 2019

With three laps remaining, the hub on the left-rear wheel of Darrell Wallace Jr.’s car failed and completely detached from his car, which caused him to spin in Turn 2.

Take a look at what brought out the caution late at @kansasspeedway.#NASCARPlayoffs | 📺: NBC | 📱: https://t.co/sYpRYwvSwz pic.twitter.com/bXzoZblzkk

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 20, 2019

Coming to the white flag, Daniel Suarez was to Keselowski’s inside and in front of Paul Menard, who drove below him to pass him. Suarez got loose, made contact with Keselowski, turned down then back up the track, into the path of Daniel Hemric, and triggered a five-car wreck on the front stretch.

A crash RIGHT BEFORE the white flag!

Another restart coming up on @NBC! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/rNYcthPfF6

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 20, 2019

Flow of the race

In the first 10 laps of a run, the lead would change hands roughly two or three times. The longer a run went on, however, the further the leader pulled away.

At the start, Larson and Keselowski exchanged the lead. Until the first cycle of green flag stops, Larson pulled to an eight-second lead over the field.

Nuts and bolts

The race lasted three hours, two minutes and 39 seconds, at an average speed of 136.491 mph. There were 15 lead changes among 12 different drivers, and seven cautions for 32 laps.

Kyle Busch leaves Kansas with a four-point lead over Truex.

The Cup Series returns to action Sunday at 3 p.m. at Martinsville Speedway.

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TOP IMAGE: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Blaney edges out Newman in photo finish at Talladega

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story listed Monday’s finish at Talladega Superspeedway as the sixth-closest finish in NASCAR history.

On the final lap of the rain-delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Ryan Blaney was all but unchallenged, as he hugged the bottom line, as the outside line had faded on the final restart.

Rounding Turn 1, Chase Elliott jumped out of line and blocked Ty Dillon to start a run on the outside line. Down the backstretch, Austin Dillon jumped out of line to take advantage of Elliott’s run, as did Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman.

“I can’t thank Aric (Almirola) at the end for helping me out,” Blaney said. “That big push that Newman and (Hamlin) got, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to block it. They were coming so fast, they would have split me.”

In Turn 3, Newman cleared Blaney, and almost got turned in the process. He got too big of a run, however, and Blaney pulled up to him.

“I wanted to stay to the bottom,” he said. “I kind of pulled the 11 (Hamlin) off of the 6 (Newman) there. Just had a big enough run to get to the 6.”

As Chris Buescher and Parker Kligerman got turned into the tri-oval wall, Blaney dove to Newman’s inside, made contact — which forced Blaney to skirt the double yellow line — and edged him at the start/finish line by seven one-thousandths of a second, the sixth-closest finish in Cup Series history.

“I definitely wasn’t going to go below the line before we hit, made contact,” he added.

It’s his third career win in 157 starts.

“I can’t say enough about this Dent Wizard team,” he said. “Super fun the last couple days. Moving on, pretty cool.”

Newman, who came home second, said he jokingly told Aric Almirola that with the recent renovations to the track, he should’ve “threw in 50 bucks” to have the start/finish line moved to the center of the tri-oval.

“I mean, we just came up that little bit short. I don’t know what else to say,” Newman said. “I could have pinched him some more. I could have probably took the aero. You can go back and bench race that three weeks from now. It was a good race until the end.

“I saw the guys spinning in the back. I was hoping for a yellow, but there wasn’t.”

Hamlin, who fell down a lap with hood flap issues and crash damage, used the multiple cautions and car attrition to round out the podium.

“I mean, just a game of chess all day,” Hamlin said. “Sure, we could have got up there and raced, got in the middle, but we would have been in all those wrecks. Didn’t make sense to me.

“I knew the statistics, the odds, the chances. I looked at how many cars were on the lead lap if we were to crash at that point in the race. It just wasn’t worth the risk. There wasn’t enough to gain with cars still crashing.

“We waited till the bulk of them got out, then went up there and tried to win. We almost did.

“I think we played the race as good as we could given all the issues we did have. Just a great job with my FedEx team getting us moved on here.”

Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell rounded out the top five.

Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 10.

Race summary

Sunday

TALLADEGA, Ala. – OCTOBER 13: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Night Vision Chevrolet, and Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide/Amazon Echo Auto Chevrolet, take the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 13, 2019 in Talladega, Alabama. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Chase Elliott led the field to green at 2:03 p.m., Sunday, after nearby storm fronts prompted NASCAR to move the start up 15 minutes. Brad Keselowski got a run on the outside line coming to the line and edged him out to lead the first lap.

For the first 10 laps, the outside line ran alongside the lead car of the inside line. A shove from a trailing car, as Denny Hamlin did for Kyle Busch on Lap 6, pushed the car on the outside up ahead of the lead inside line car.

After the 10th lap, the outside line lost momentum and fell a few cars back of the lead car. By Lap 18, the outside line, led by Ryan Blaney, made up the ground and pulled along the second inside car, Busch, on Lap 19. When he and the four cars behind him cleared Busch, the outside line again fell back.

GettyImages-1180844330-780x520 — TALLADEGA, Ala. – OCTOBER 13: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Dent Wizard Ford, spins during Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 13, 2019 in Talladega, Alabama. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

The Stewart-Haas Racing Fords and two of the Team Penske Fords pitted on Lap 35. Blaney locked up and spun out entering the pits. Not only did he lose the draft, he was hit with a pass through penalty for speeding.

After the race, crew chief Jeremy Bullins he knew his car was fast enough to work his way back to the lead.

“Unfortunate what happened, spinning to pit road,” Bullins said. “Like I told him last night, glad we got that out of the way early, didn’t damage the car in any way. We know what the limits are at that point.

“Pretty much recovered from it, got back to 10th by the end of the stage. We knew we had a good car. Just put it behind us and moved on.”

Caution flew for the first time on Lap 37, when Spencer Boyd’s car stalled on the apron in Turn 4. Blaney’s pass through was changed to a tail end penalty, because he didn’t have enough time to serve it before the caution.

Keselowski cycled to the lead under the cycle of stops and led the field back to green on Lap 41.

Erik Jones fell off the pace with a flat right-rear tire in Turn 1 on Lap 51.

William Byron used the outside line push to take the lead and win the first stage.

During the stage break, rain blanketed the track and the race was red-flagged on Lap 57. At 4:30 p.m., the remainder of the race was postponed to Monday at 2 p.m.

Monday

The red flag was withdrawn at 2:05 p.m., Monday. Keselowski didn’t get fired when the order was given. His car was pushed off pit road by a push truck. The car finally fired and he pulled away.

When the pits opened on Lap 58, Blaney exited pit road with the race lead.

At 2:15 p.m., he led the field back to green on Lap 63. Three lines of cars formed, with the bottom line powering ahead of the middle (consisting of mostly Ford cars) and top (mostly Chevrolets). The top line largely faded and merged with the middle. A few laps later, the middle outside line, led by Clint Bowyer, caught the lead inside car.

The top outside line reformed and Joey Logano led the train to the front. The bottom line disappeared for a lap, before merging with the middle line.

The Chevrolet cars hit pit road on Lap 90. The Toyota cars, and a few Fords, pitted on Lap 91. The remaining Fords pitted on Lap 92.

Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. were among those penalized for speeding that cycle.

Closing on the end of the second stage, Logano and Bowyer locked into an old-school tandem draft for about three laps, before separating and falling back in line.

With four laps remaining in the second stage, Logano got a run on Bowman down the backstretch. He moved down to block, but got hit and turned, which triggered a multi-car wreck in Turn 3.

THE BIG ONE at @TalladegaSuperS!

Alex Bowman goes around and several drivers wreck.

Watch @NASCAR on NBCSN: https://t.co/9W0N60qMcu #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/hSpi7noue5

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 14, 2019

Bowyer was ahead of Logano when the caution flew, and won the second stage.

What else happened

Caution flew on Lap 122, when Wallace got turned into the wall by Blake Jones, who spun out on the backstretch.

CAUTION: An incident on the backstretch with @BubbaWallace and others puts us under yellow once again at @TalladegaSuperS.

Leaderboard: https://t.co/AsXZ5Z3eOs pic.twitter.com/6ZedJoz6nb

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 14, 2019

With 36 laps to go, Clint Bowyer spun out in Turn 3 and his car got high-centered on the banking of the apron.

Clint Bowyer is stuck!

Less than 35 to go at @TalladegaSuperS on NBCSN: https://t.co/9W0N60qMcu #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Vy9XirlPu0

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 14, 2019

With less than 30 laps to go, another multi-car wreck was triggered down the backstretch.

Another big @TalladegaSuperS incident claims more key players in the late stages.

Take a look at what brought out the yellow flag. pic.twitter.com/JgtXuD4NrO

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 14, 2019

With seven laps remaining, a third multi-car wreck ensued. Brendan Gaughan got upside down, but landed back on four wheels.

The Big One strikes late at @TalladegaSuperS.#NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/PXFFxI28Cz

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 14, 2019

Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 runs again

Prior to the start, Richard Childress ran a few laps on track in the very No. 3 Chevrolet that the late Dale Earnhardt drove to his 76th and final Cup Series victory on Oct. 15, 2000, at Talladega.

He did a slow pace lap the first time around. On his second lap, Childress opened up the throttle down the backstretch.

BAD. ASS.

Dale Earnhardt's car was hauling the mail at @TalladegaSuperS! pic.twitter.com/flY4OVXKl2

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 13, 2019

Nuts and bolts

The race lasted three hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds, at an average speed of 136.644 mph. There were 47 lead changes among 19 different drivers and nine cautions for 43 laps. There were two red flags: One for rain and the other for a wreck.

Hamlin leaves with an eight-point lead over Truex.

Bowman, Elliott, Bowyer and Byron leave Talladega in the drop zone in points.

The Cup Series returns to action Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on NBC, at Kansas Speedway.

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TOP PHOTO: Jared C. Tilon/Getty Images

The White Zone: Dover was a microcosm of the problems with the aero package

Back in May, Kyle Busch told reporters at Dover International Speedway, “The (aero) package sucks. No fucking question about it. It’s terrible. All I can do is bitch about it and (it will) fall on deaf ears and we’ll come back with the same thing it in the fall.”

An hour after Sunday’s race at Dover ended, Jimmie Johnson tweeted this:

I remember a day when you could pass with a faster car, that was not today… All in all a strong weekend with a few areas to dial in. 🕺🏻

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) October 6, 2019

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Drydene 400 was yet another showcase of the problems with NASCAR’s mind-boggling insistence that higher downforce and lower horsepower is the way of the future.

There was one — I repeat, ONE — on-track pass for the lead under green flag conditions. That was on Lap 229, when Martin Truex Jr. powered around the outside of Denny Hamlin down the backstretch. And that was made possible, because Hamlin ran into lap traffic. Particularly in the form of Joey Logano, who was 24 laps down. The rest of the time, when the leader cleared lap traffic, he just pulled away from the field.

Kyle Larson’s race-winning move came on pit road, not the race track.

Any drama in this race came from playoff drivers suffering mechanical failures. The rest of the race was as Jeff Gluck of The Athletic put it:

“On the track, (the drivers) find it nearly impossible to pass at times – and not just for position, but even getting by lapped cars,” Gluck said. “They know how to do it and have the skill to do it, but the physics of the situation will not allow it. NBCSN illustrated this well on Sunday when they showed replays of drivers inexplicably losing all grip just because they started to get within a few car lengths of a competitor.”

All this added up to a miserably boring marathon of a Dover race that, sadly, has become the norm for the Monster Mile. I understand that not every race will be a five-star event and duds happen, but a dull race is more infuriating when you expect to get that.

And I’m not putting this at the feet of Dover, despite what I’ve tweeted in the past. I’m sure track president Mike Tatoian and his staff do the best they can, within their power, to make a great race happen there. I’m putting this on NASCAR, the governing body that sanctions this event.

While the big wigs in the offices in Daytona will cite higher green flag passes, just remember that those numbers were inflated by multiple rounds of green flag stops.

Don't be fooled by the number of green flag passes, green flag pit stops aided that a ton. Dover's fall race was one the worst of the year visually. Here are the numbers. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/HvzoDm3SWB

— Apex Off (@ApexOff) October 6, 2019

And the worst part, it’s not changing anytime soon.

While most racing sanctioning bodies are moving in the direction of lower downforce and more horsepower, NASCAR announced on Tuesday that we’re sticking with this direction for the foreseeable future.

What do I hope to accomplish with this? I don’t know. Do I think the executives at NASCAR will see this and reverse course? I think a return to North Wilkesboro Speedway is more likely to happen than that.

Maybe I’m just screaming into a black hole. Maybe I just needed the cathartic release of writing this, after watching Sunday’s race. Maybe I’m just annoyed that my pessimistic outlook going into this race was validated.

That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

TOP IMAGE: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Kyle Larson dominates latter half to end two-year winless streak at Dover

Here’s what happened in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Drydene 400 Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

Race winner

Kyle Larson’s pit crew got him off pit road with the lead under the second stage break caution. Aside from a pit cycle with roughly 80 laps to go, he maintained the lead to the checkered flag.

Come next Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, he doesn’t have to stress about keeping his car intact or winning, because he’s onto the Round of 8.

“You know, last time I was at Talladega I was on my lid, and I mean, I could still end up on my lid next week, but it’s not going to matter after this win,” he said. What a day.”

This was his sixth victory in 213 Cup Series starts, first in 75 races and first at Dover.

“This Clover Chevy was really good,” he added. “After the first stage I kind of changed my driving style up and I felt like I made the car better at the same time, and it really benefitted our long runs. That’s as good as I’ve ever been around cutting the bottom here. Just a great combination here. Good to be fast in practice and then be good again in the race and get the win.”

Playoff drivers

Before the race even started, Joey Logano went to the garage for an issue with the rear wheel axle.

.@joeylogano goes to the garage for a rear end axle. #NASCAR

— Dustin Albino (@DustinAlbino) October 6, 2019

When he returned to the track, he was 22 laps down. He couldn’t make it up and finished the race in 34th, 25 laps down.

“You can’t make up 20 laps, that is for sure,” Logano said. “Maybe you can get one or two back if things go right. It was a bummer. Things happen. I guess the good news is that I think we are the last one in right now. We definitely used our mulligan. We used the playoff points we accumulated, we just have to be perfect now. We have two really good race tracks coming up though. Talladega is arguably one of our best race tracks and I would say Kansas is as well. We just have to be perfect from here.”

Eight laps into the race, Chase Elliott fell off the pace and dropped down onto pit road under the caution, which came out for a wheel axle at pit entrance.

"I just blew up."

Chase Elliott becomes the second #NASCARPlayoffs drivers with issues in the first 10 laps at the @MonsterMile! Are you watching on NBCSN? pic.twitter.com/wz9lG6dfrv

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 6, 2019

He told NBC that it was an engine failure.

“It just quit running,” he said. “It didn’t really seem like anything was off. We were just kind of making laps and then obviously had a failure. It’s an unfortunate way to start this round for sure.”

Denny Hamlin radio’d early in the final stage that he was blowing up. He said it was due to a missed shift on the final restart.

“The car changed tones and lost a little power, but it’s next year’s motor which is not concerning any more this year,” he said. “Certainly, I was concerned that we weren’t going to make it.”

He did make it to the end, however, and finished fifth.

Speeding

During the first cycle of green flag stops from Laps 76 to 86, four drivers were busted for speeding: Aric Almirola, Darrell Wallace Jr., David Ragan and Ryan Newman.

Kyle Busch was busted for speeding under the first stage break caution.

Ty Dillon was busted for speeding on Lap 167.

William Byron was busted for speeding on Lap 186.

Austin Dillon and BJ McLeod were busted for speeding under the second stage break caution.

Erik Jones was busted for speeding during the final cycle of stops with roughly 80 laps to go. Ragan was busted for speeding again during the same cycle.

Stages

Hamlin dominated and won the first stage. He was doing the same in the second stage, until lap traffic allowed Martin Truex Jr. to reel him in and pass him down the backstretch on Lap 229 to win the stage.

What else happened

Not much else really happened. It was a pretty tame race at Dover.

Nuts and bolts

The race lasted two hours, 56 minutes and 49 seconds, at an average speed of 135.734 mph. There were 14 lead changes among nine different drivers and three cautions for 17 laps.

Truex leaves with a 15-point lead over Hamlin.

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TOP IMAGE: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images