Denny Hamlin has started NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup in style by winning the opening race of the “Playoffs” at Chicagoland Speedway.
This came despite a spin on just the second lap of the race and he even fell of the lead lap. Hamlin looked doomed during long green flag periods, but through a “Lucky Dog” regained the lead lap before his Joe Gibbs Racing team rolled the dice on a late caution.
They took track position over tyres and he jumped from third to first on the restart with five laps remaining. His win automatically gives him a spot in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
“I was gonna drive in there and hope that everything worked out,” Hamlin said. “This is unbelievable. … Coming back from a lap down, we had a fast car. I’m proud. The pit crew did a phenomenal job again.
“It takes some pressure off us. We’re ready to have fun.”
In far worse position is reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick, who after contact with Jimmy Johnson on a re-start midway through the race, cut a tyre and found the wall. He finished second-last in 42nd. He’s now ranked last in the 16-driver field.
Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Carl Edwards, earned himself the runner-up position. After leading for a total of 37 laps, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch was unable to hold off the JGR drivers for the lead and finished third.
Of the rest of the Chase field Ryan Newman finished fourth, Matt Kenseth in fifth, Brad Keselowski was eighth, Kyle Busch in ninth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 12th, Martin Truex Jr. in 13th, Jeff Gordon was 14th, Jamie McMurray in 16th, Paul Menard was 17th and Clint Bowyer was back in 19th.
VIDEO: Hamlin wins at Chicagoland
RESULTS: Myafibrisk.com 400 – Chicagoland Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS PTS |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 29 | 267 | 9 | Running | 47 | 4 |
| 2 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 14 | 267 | 6 | Running | 43 | 1 |
| 3 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 9 | 267 | 37 | Running | 42 | 1 |
| 4 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 6 | 267 | 0 | Running | 40 | 0 |
| 5 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 12 | 267 | 1 | Running | 40 | 1 |
| 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 2 | 267 | 1 | Running | 39 | 1 |
| 7 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 18 | 267 | 2 | Running | 38 | 1 |
| 8 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 3 | 267 | 0 | Running | 36 | 0 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 7 | 267 | 121 | Running | 37 | 2 |
| 10 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 20 | 267 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
| 11 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 11 | 267 | 0 | Running | 33 | 0 |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 19 | 267 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 |
| 13 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 4 | 267 | 39 | Running | 32 | 1 |
| 14 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 10 | 267 | 41 | Running | 31 | 1 |
| 15 | 55 | David Ragan | Toyota | 28 | 267 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 13 | 266 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
| 17 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 16 | 266 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 |
| 18 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 27 | 265 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 |
| 19 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 26 | 265 | 0 | Running | 25 | 0 |
| 20 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 24 | 265 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 |
| 21 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 17 | 265 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | 33 | Brian Scott | Chevrolet | 21 | 265 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 31 | 265 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
| 24 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 8 | 264 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
| 25 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 23 | 264 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
| 26 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 25 | 264 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
| 27 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 36 | 263 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 30 | 263 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
| 29 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | 33 | 263 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
| 30 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Ford | 22 | 262 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 |
| 31 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | 38 | 262 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
| 32 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 35 | 262 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | 32 | Josh Wise | Ford | 40 | 261 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
| 34 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 37 | 261 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
| 35 | 26 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 34 | 261 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 15 | 260 | 0 | Running | 8 | 0 |
| 37 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 32 | 259 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 |
| 38 | 23 | Jeb Burton | Toyota | 41 | 259 | 0 | Running | 6 | 0 |
| 39 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 39 | 258 | 0 | Running | 5 | 0 |
| 40 | 98 | Reed Sorenson | Ford | 42 | 258 | 0 | Running | 4 | 0 |
| 41 | 62 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 43 | 255 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 1 | 209 | 10 | Running | 3 | 1 |
| 43 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 5 | 198 | 0 | Running | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
| 1 | Matt Kenseth | 2052 | Leader | 27 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 2 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 2050 | -2 | 27 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 1 |
| 3 | Carl Edwards | 2049 | -3 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 2049 | -3 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| 5 | Kurt Busch | 2048 | -4 | 24 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 0 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 2048 | -4 | 27 | 3 | 16 | 21 | 0 |
| 7 | Jimmie Johnson | 2045 | -7 | 27 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 0 |
| 8 | Ryan Newman | 2040 | -12 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 1 |
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | 2039 | -13 | 27 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 1 |
| 10 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 2038 | -14 | 27 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 1 |
| 11 | Martin Truex Jr | 2035 | -17 | 27 | 1 | 7 | 17 | 2 |
| 12 | Jeff Gordon | 2031 | -21 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 1 |
| 13 | Jamie McMurray | 2028 | -24 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| 14 | Paul Menard | 2027 | -25 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 2025 | -27 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| 16 | Kevin Harvick | 2009 | -43 | 27 | 2 | 18 | 22 | 1 |
| 17 | Aric Almirola | 727 | -1325 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 18 | Kasey Kahne | 697 | -1355 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| 19 | Kyle Larson | 656 | -1396 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| 20 | Greg Biffle | 634 | -1418 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | Austin Dillon | 604 | -1448 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 22 | Casey Mears | 578 | -1474 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 23 | Danica Patrick | 570 | -1482 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 24 | AJ Allmendinger | 564 | -1488 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 25 | David Ragan | 551 | -1501 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 26 | Tony Stewart | 530 | -1522 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 27 | Sam Hornish Jr | 522 | -1530 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 28 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 494 | -1558 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 29 | Trevor Bayne | 489 | -1563 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 30 | Justin Allgaier | 460 | -1592 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 31 | Cole Whitt | 409 | -1643 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 32 | David Gilliland | 403 | -1649 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 33 | Alex Bowman | 338 | -1714 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 34 | Brett Moffitt | 333 | -1719 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | Matt DiBenedetto | 295 | -1757 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 | Michael Annett | 287 | -1765 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 | Josh Wise | 213 | -1839 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 38 | Michael McDowell | 163 | -1889 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Jeb Burton | 160 | -1892 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 40 | Alex Kennedy | 93 | -1959 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Reed Sorenson | 48 | -2004 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Bobby Labonte | 39 | -2013 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 | Brian Vickers | 32 | -2020 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Michael Waltrip | 26 | -2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Mike Wallace | 8 | -2044 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | T.J. Bell | 7 | -2045 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Eddie MacDonald | 7 | -2045 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Will Kimmel III | 6 | -2046 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Ron Hornaday Jr | 2 | -2050 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | -2052 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 51 | Landon Cassill | 0 | -2052 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 52 | Brian Scott | 0 | -2052 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 53 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -2052 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | J.J. Yeley | 0 | -2052 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 55 | Regan Smith | 0 | -2052 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Chase Elliott | 0 | -2052 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 57 | Matt Crafton | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Johnny Sauter | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Chris Buescher | 0 | -2052 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 60 | Boris Said | 0 | -2052 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -2052 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 62 | Justin Marks | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Mike Bliss | 0 | -2052 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Travis Kvapil | 0 | -2052 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 | Joe Nemechek | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -2052 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 67 | Joey Gase | 0 | -2052 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 68 | Derek White | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 | Jeff Green | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | Erik Jones | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 0 | -2052 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | Tanner Berryhill | 0 | -2052 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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