DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In one of the greatest Daytona 500 finishes of all time, Denny Hamlin held off Martin Truex Jr. by less than a nose to win his first 500 – and the first for team owner Joe Gibbs in 23 years.
Hamlin teammate Matt Kenseth was leading on the last lap, but Hamlin got a run on the outside lane and then squeezed by, setting up a photo finish with Denver-based Furniture Row Racing's Truex. Then Hamlin won by a couple inches – if that.
The 35-year-old is now in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in his first race with new crew chief Mike Wheeler.
CLOSEST IN HISTORY: Hamlin's win over Truex Jr. was the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, with a margin of victory of 0.010 seconds. The previous record was Kevin Harvick's victory over Mark Martin (0.020 in the 2007 race.
“When you’re battling like Denny and I were, it was hard to tell who was in the lead,” said Truex, who is in his third season with Furniture Row Racing. “I felt I had him down the frontstretch, but when we got to the (finish) line I knew it was going to be close. I did all I could. You never want to be on the losing side, but today was one heck of an effort, especially what we’ve been through during Speedweeks. But all in all I am proud of my guys, proud to have Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats on this Toyota and our technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing."
Truex Jr., who started the race near the back in a backup car, spent the majority of the event in the top-5 -- and was positioned in second place for almost the entire second-half of the race.
DANICA DAMAGED: With 17 laps to go, an already frustrated Danica Patrick went through a spin through the grass on the backstretch after contact with Greg Biffle. Patrick was already having a bad race; she went a lap down during green flag pit stops after her crew went over the wall too soon and caused a penalty.
BAD DAY FOR THE FAVORITE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his famed car “Amelia” went for a spin off Turn 4 with 31 laps to go and went nose-first into the inside wall, ruining his day. Earnhardt had led early but lost his track position during pit stops and had to fight all race to regain it. Just when Earnhardt was making moves – he had just sailed past Hamlin and Joey Logano – Earnhardt got loose and lost control of his car.
HARD CRASH: Matt DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher had a violent accident on lap 92 when DiBenedetto got out of shape and snapped toward the Turn 1 wall. Buescher got a piece of it and both cars ended up making tremendous contact, impacting the SAFER barrier. Buescher’s No. 34 car hit so hard, its rear tires were lifted off the ground. The drivers took their time getting out of the cars and seemed shaken, but both were evaluated in the infield care center and released.
THAT’S THE BRAKES: Several drivers seemed to have problems getting loose out of Turn 4, and Brian Vickers fell victim to Joey Logano’s slip-up just past the one-quarter mark of the race. Logano seemed to hit the brakes coming out of the turn, and Vickers came up on the No. 22 car with too much speed. Vickers spun out, and Carl Edwards and Trevor Bayne also sustained some damage in the incident.
POLE-SITTER: Rookie Chase Elliott, taking over for Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 car, started from the pole and led the first three laps before he was passed by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. Unfortunately, Elliott caused the first caution on lap 19 when he spun out of the pack from about 10th place and slid through the grass, causing major damage.
PICTURE PERFECT: For a race that has occasionally been plagued by rain, Sunday’s 58th running of the Daytona 500 took place under ideal conditions. There was a vibrant atmosphere with Daytona’s renovated grandstands (including a sold-out crowd of more than 101,000) and grand marshal Gerard Butler even gave a “THIS. IS. DAYTONA!” before telling drivers to start their engines.
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