By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Denny Hamlin was that close to returning to Victory Lane in his home state of Virginia. But it took some bumper-grinding to make it close.
Running third with two laps to go in Sunday’s First Data 500 from Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin was behind a side-by-side battle for the lead between Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. And when contact sparked between the two in Turn 4 on the final lap, Hamlin jumped to the inside across the checkered flag, losing the race in a photo finish with Logano.
Watching the fight in his windshield, Hamlin knew he had a shot even before the white flag was waved.
“I knew once the [Nos.] 78 cleared the 22, he was going to shove him into Turn 4,” Hamlin said. “I knew it was going to happen. I was just hoping it was going to take both of them out.”
Losing the race officially by 0.107 seconds, Hamlin knew his battle with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch for third cost him the time to pounce for the win.
“We weren’t close enough to quite be there,” he said. “It took me too long to get around the [Nos.] 18 and 2.
“Whenever you’re in the lead and somebody is within a car length, you know you’re going to get knocked out of the way. That’s what is appropriate today and… what everyone has come to be OK with. It’s just short track racing.”
Though there are hopes and expectations for finishes like that, Hamlin understands why there were boos flying for Joey Logano following the checkered flag.
“It depends who’s doing it,” he said. “If it’s your favorite driver, you love it. If [not], it’s dirty. I knew with two to go I was going to be in great position to win this race because I knew they’d get into each other.
“I had more faith that the [Nos.] 22 was going to hit the 78 than I did the 78 hitting the 22.”
Finish aside, Sunday was arguably Hamlin’s best race of 2018, leading 31 laps and running top three nearly all night. And in a race where five drivers were running for the win in the final laps, Hamlin was happy he was able to be one of them.
“It’s good to have runs like this,” he said. “I knew after yesterday that the car had the feel I was supposed to have. It was a really smooth weekend, the car handled great. It’s just that those Penske guys were so good on the short runs. We were never able to control the race and it set the tone.”