Sunday, June 13, 2010

Hamlin Wins at Michigan; His Fifth Win of the Season

Associated Press

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Denny Hamlin continued his hot streak, dominating Sunday's NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway to pick up his second straight victory and fifth of the season.

Hamlin led 123 laps and controlled the second half of the race, easily pulling away from Kasey Kahne on a restart with under 20 laps remaining.

With his fifth win in his last 10 races, Denny Hamlin is creating serious space between himself and the rest of the Sprint Cup field.

Kahne held on for second, followed by pole-sitter Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was seventh.

Hamlin needed to survive NASCAR's version of overtime last week at Pocono. There was no such drama Sunday at the two-mile oval. He led by as much as 10 seconds at one point then had little trouble dispatching Kahne following a late caution for debris.

"All we do is win baby," said Hamlin shortly after crossing the finish line.

And unlike his postrace celebration at Pocono, Hamlin kept his No. 11 Toyota in one piece. Hamlin put a damper on the victory party last week when he smacked the wall while doing a burnout.

This time, his car rolled into Victory Lane in pristine condition.

"There were specific instructions not to wreck this car," Hamlin said with a laugh.

Not exactly good news for the rest of the series, which finds itself scrambling to keep up.
Kahne had a brief glimmer of hope when the debris caution came out. It lasted all of three laps, or as long as it took for Hamlin to run out and disappear.

"They've been doing it for the last two, two-and-a-half months," Kahne said.

And they've been doing it everywhere. Hamlin's wins run the gamut. Short tracks. Intermediate ovals. Superspeedways. Doesn't matter right now to Hamlin.

"Now I know what Jimmie has felt like the last four years," he said.

He certainly looked like Johnson on Sunday, and did it during a relatively quiet race that lacked some of the fireworks that have peppered the series this season.

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