{"id":10327,"date":"2022-05-30T11:45:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T15:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=10327"},"modified":"2022-07-22T12:08:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T16:08:26","slug":"denny-hamlin-career-winston-million-charlotte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2022\/05\/30\/denny-hamlin-career-winston-million-charlotte\/","title":{"rendered":"Denny Hamlin completes career Winston Million at Charlotte"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denny Hamlin<\/strong> backed off the gas and entered Turn 3 at Charlotte Motor Speedway early on the first overtime attempt, because he figured most of the drivers ahead would “miss the corner.”<\/p>\n

“Typically when guys drive in too deep they’re going to wash up the track,” he said. “I needed to make sure I got off the corner really low and with a good run.”<\/p>\n

Hamlin overtook Austin Dillon<\/strong> exiting Turn 4 to take the lead, as the field wrecked to his right. He didn’t take the checkered flag before the incident, however. So NASCAR re-stacked the field and tried again.<\/p>\n

Teammate\u00a0Kyle Busch<\/strong> edged him at the line to start the final lap, but just as he did to start the race, Hamlin powered by him in Turn 1 and led him across the finish line to win the 63rd running of the Coca-Cola 600.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, it feels great,” Hamlin said. “Obviously it wasn’t looking good for about 398 laps. Considering our day, I was going to be pretty content with a fourth-place finish.”<\/p>\n

It’s his 48th NASCAR Cup Series victory in 592 career starts. Which moves him into a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Herb Thomas for 16th on the all-time wins list. Furthermore, it checks off the last box for Hamlin, as he becomes the 10th driver to complete the career Winston Million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We managed the race,” he said. “We knew we didn’t have the fastest car, the best car by any means, but we just stayed in the race. We didn’t make any mistakes, gave ourselves an opportunity when the opportunity arose for us.”<\/p>\n

The top-10<\/h3>\n
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CONCORD, N.C. – MAY 29: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2022, in Concord, North Carolina. Photo: James Gilbert\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zero-point-one-one-nine seconds.<\/p>\n

That’s the margin of victory that relegated Busch to a runner-up finish. He didn’t think there was more he could’ve done to change the result.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t have a good enough day to even be in that position,” he said. “Just a strong fight all night long by this M&M’s team. Give honor to those we remember here on Memorial Day weekend. Appreciate the opportunity and being able to do that.<\/p>\n

We had Sergeant Thiem on here with this us weekend. Tried to come out with Victory Lane, honor them. Unfortunately one spot short.<\/p>\n

Kevin Harvick<\/strong> finished a quiet night on the podium in third.<\/p>\n

Chase Briscoe<\/strong>, who brought out the caution that sent the race to overtime, finished fourth and\u00a0Christopher Bell<\/strong> rounded out the top-five.<\/p>\n

Tyler Reddick<\/strong>,\u00a0Ricky Stenhouse Jr.<\/strong>,\u00a0Michael McDowell<\/strong>,\u00a0Kyle Larson<\/strong> and\u00a0Alex Bowman<\/strong> rounded out the top-10.<\/p>\n

Ross Chastain<\/strong>, who led a race high of 153 laps, finished 14th.<\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin completes career Winston Million at Charlotte<\/h2>\n

Race summary<\/h3>\n

Stage 1<\/h4>\n
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CONCORD, N.C. – MAY 29: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2022, in Concord, North Carolina. Photo: James Gilbert\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hamlin led the field to green at 6:25 p.m. He edged out 23XI Racing employee, Kurt Busch<\/a>, at the line to lead the first lap. Busch returned the favor on Lap 2, while Hamlin pulled away from him on Lap 3. Teammate Kyle Busch powered by Hamlin on the bottom in Turn 1 to take the lead on Lap 11.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after the Lap 39 restart, Bubba Wallace edged out Busch at the line to lead Lap 41. Then Busch pulled away, before Daniel Suarez edged him at the line to lead Lap 46.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a replay of his practice wreck from Saturday, Corey LaJoie cut a tire, spun and plowed the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 61. Suarez brought the field down pit road, while Chase Elliott exited with the lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

William Byron edged him at the line to lead Lap 69, but Elliott powered by and drove on to win the first stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stage 2<\/h4>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>