{"id":26373,"date":"2020-02-18T04:56:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T09:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=26373"},"modified":"2020-02-18T04:56:47","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T09:56:47","slug":"denny-hamlin-defends-daytona-500-championship-in-nascar-double-overtime-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2020\/02\/denny-hamlin-defends-daytona-500-championship-in-nascar-double-overtime-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"Denny Hamlin Defends DAYTONA 500 Championship in NASCAR Double-Overtime Finish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Denny Hamlin Defends DAYTONA 500 Championship in NASCAR Double-Overtime Finish<\/strong>
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Becomes Fourth Driver to Win Consecutive DAYTONA 500s<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2020) \u2013<\/strong> Denny Hamlin became the fourth driver to win back-to-back DAYTONA 500s on Monday night, winning the 62nd running of \u201cThe Great American Race\u201d in a NASCAR Overtime finish at Daytona International Speedway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race resumed Monday afternoon after it was halted on Sunday night with 20 laps completed. It was only the second postponement in DAYTONA 500 history \u2013 2012 was the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Hamlin, driving the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, joined Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95) as consecutive DAYTONA 500 champions. Hamlin also became only the sixth driver to win NASCAR\u2019s premier event at least three times; he also won in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamlin edged Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Menards\/Peak Ford) by 0.014 seconds while Chris Buescher (No. 17 Fastenal Ford) finished third. The race was extended to 209 laps, nine past the scheduled 200-lap\/500-mile distance, via two \u201cNASCAR Overtimes\u201d caused by late-race incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Hamlin, the victory continued his emergence as the latest NASCAR Cup Series driver to dominate at Daytona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just feel like I\u2019m a student of the game,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cI never stop learning and trying to figure out where I need to put myself at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t always work [but] we\u2019ve defied the odds here in the DAYTONA 500. I just trust my instincts and so far they\u2019ve been good for me. I can\u2019t do it without the car. That\u2019s [enabling me] to make those race-winning moves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race also ended with an incident. On the last lap, Ryan Newman (No. 6 Koch Industries Ford) led on the inside coming to the stripe, getting a push from Blaney. Hamlin was running third on the inside. Suddenly, Newman\u2019s car turned right, into the wall. Seconds later, Newman was hit by Corey LaJoie\u2019s car (No. 32 RagingBull.com Ford). Newman was transported to a local hospital afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRyan Newman is being treated at Halifax Medical Center,\u201d Roush Fenway Racing said via a statement. \u201cHe is in serious condition, but doctors have indicated his injuries are not life threatening. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and ask that you respect the privacy of Ryan and his family during this time. We appreciate your patience and cooperation and we will provide more information as it becomes available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Hamlin, the \u201cweekend\u201d continues Tuesday, with the traditional DAYTONA 500 champion\u2019s media tour in New York, a full slate of appearances and interviews that include visits to LIVE! with Kelly & Ryan, FOX New York \u201cThe Noon,\u201d the Jim Rome Show, Barstool Breakfast, SiriusXM Radio, CBS Sports Radio and the New York Stock Exchange. Hamlin will also take part in a special satellite media tour on Friday from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of next week\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M\u2019s Toyota) failed to win his sport\u2019s biggest race for the 15th time. Busch was leading on Lap 183 when his ride developed engine problems. He finished 34th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really hate it for my guys and I really hate it for Joe Gibbs Racing,\u201d Busch said. We\u2019ll just keep figuring out ways to lose [the DAYTONA 500].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Ally Chevrolet) raced in the DAYTONA 500 for what could be for the final time, finishing 35th; he is retiring from the NASCAR Cup Series after this season. The two-time DAYTONA 500 champion started sixth after a strong run in one of last week\u2019s two qualifying races. Johnson shares the all-time record of seven NASCAR Cup Series championship with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racing resumes at Daytona International Speedway on March 6-15 with another longstanding motorsports tradition \u2013 the 79th annual Bike Week At DAYTONA. The bike week schedule is headlined by the 50th annual DAYTONA Supercross on March 7 and the 79th annual DAYTONA 200 on March 14. New this year: pairing the DAYTONA 200 with the popular DAYTONA TT flat-track race for a unique day-night doubleheader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denny Hamlin Defends DAYTONA 500 Championship in NASCAR Double-Overtime Finish\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Becomes Fourth Driver to Win Consecutive DAYTONA 500s DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2020) \u2013 Denny Hamlin became the fourth driver to win back-to-back DAYTONA 500s on Monday night, winning the 62nd running of \u201cThe Great American Race\u201d in a NASCAR Overtime finish at Daytona International Speedway. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar","category-touring-series-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26373"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26374,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26373\/revisions\/26374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}