Hamlin wins Goody Orange 500

Denny Hamlin couldn’t have asked for a better stage to drive into the winner’s circle than in his own home state. Hamlin brought home a victory for Joe Gibbs Racing in the number 11 car in Goody’s Cool Orange 500 by beating out Jeff Gordon on a restart following a caution flag.

This is the first time Hamlin has won in his home state and it’s only his 4 th victory in 85 starts, thereby ending a 24-race drought. It seems that Hamlin has had a rough start this year. In the Daytona 500, he finished 17th only to finish 41st the following week at the Auto Club Speedway. In Las Vegas, Hamlin achieved his first top ten finish by placing 9 th, but in Atlanta, he ended up 15th on a tight track.

Things looked good for Hamlin at the Food City 500 at Bristol as he was in the lead for green-white-checkered-flag finish, but his fuel pickup let him down and he ended up placing 6th. Was Martinsville a place of redemption? Maybe. But the thing that counts most is the fact that Hamlin held up the trophy in his home state.

The top five were rounded out with Hamlin and Gordon leading the way and Burton, Johnson, and Stewart following behind respectively.

Stewart has had a close but no cigar season, consistently running well throughout each race but either falling short in the final laps or having car difficulties that prevented him from taking the checkered flag.

> Apply online for a NASCAR credit card and find cheap NASCAR apparel & merchandise online through ProRacing-fans.com.

Earnhardt, Jr. and Mears took sixth and seventh, respectively while the remaining top 10 finishers were McMurray, Edwards, and Bowyer.

Kyle Busch, the points leader following last week’s race, finished 38 th, dropping him out of first and down in to 4th place in overall standings. Jeff Burton took over the lead with 915 points after his third place finish in Martinsville.

By Angela Moore
Pro Racing Fans Staff Writer

> Read more NASCAR news online from ProRacing-fans.com.