Denny Hamlin wins Coca-Cola 600 for first time

The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night began and ended with Denny Hamlin in the lead.

What transpired in the interim defied belief. And a driver who claimed to thrive in turmoil turned out to be a true professional.

In two overtimes, Hamlin won the longest race in NASCAR history – 619.5 miles — by 0.014 seconds over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch.

Hamlin now has trophies in all three of NASCAR’s crown jewel races: the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and Southern 500.

This is his second victory of the season and his 48th overall. Kevin Harvick is the only active driver who has won all three championships.

The triumph of Hamlin thwarted what could have been one of the greatest comebacks in racing history.

Kyle Larson started from the back in a repaired car, suffered three pit-road penalties, a spin off Turn 4 and a fire in his pit stall, but miraculously, he was leading the race on the next-to-last lap of regulation when Chase Briscoe spun underneath him while battling for the lead, bringing out the night’s 17th caution.

Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet was collected in an accident on the first attempt at overtime, causing the running order to be scrambled, leaving Hamlin in the lead on four new tires.

Larson, who finished tenth, remarked, “The first half (of the race) was a battle for all of us.”

“I felt very annoyed with myself. It’s something to be proud of to come back from that and have a chance to win there late. Our crew put forth a lot of effort.”

“I’m satisfied with that.” That long run by Briscoe was fantastic. Wish we’d only been a little bit better so he wouldn’t have gotten to me, eventually spinning.”

Following the second overtime restart, Hamlin and Busch raced side by side until Hamlin surged ahead on Lap 412 of 413, 13 laps further than the planned distance. Busch fought back but couldn’t catch up to Hamlin’s bumper.

“It’s one of a kind,” Hamlin added. “It’s the last major project that isn’t listed on my resume.” “It meant a lot to me.”

“All day, we weren’t very good. We simply happened to be at the right place at the right time. What a fight that was!”

As the race progressed, however, Hamlin was far from the expected winner. Daniel Suárez’s vehicle was arguably the fastest.

Ross Chastain, his Trackhouse Racing teammate, led 153 laps, the most of any driver.

It appeared for all the world that Larson and Briscoe would decide the outcome between them in the closing minutes of regulation, when Briscoe spun while attempting to pass the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion on the inside.

However, Austin Dillon’s brave move of four fresh tires to Larson’s two in the first overtime effort went astray exiting Turn 4, destroying seven cars and setting up Hamlin’s victory in the second overtime.

That was only the last chapter of a five-hour suspense thriller.

Suárez’s Chevrolet spun sideways on Lap 346 following contact with Briscoe’s Ford, igniting a four-car disaster that concluded with Chris Buescher’s Ford barrel-rolling five times across the front-stretch infield and landing on its roof on a night that had already witnessed an abundance of magnificent action.

Buescher climbed out of his car unharmed, but the Roush Fenway Keselowski driver’s strong run came to an end quickly.

Suárez had a fantastic run, leading four times for 38 laps but losing positions on every pit stop, with Hamlin and Joey Logano’s cars impeding his exit from pit road.

After a customary trip to the infield care facility, Buescher said, “I’m going to be a little sore tomorrow.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been upside down.” The staff did an excellent job. We had a lot of speed and a good chance at this, but it didn’t work out.”

The first few laps of the race were a foreshadowing of what was to come.

What was the level of excitement during the race? Here’s an example of a microcosm: The opening lap concluded in a dead heat, with Kurt Busch only a thousandth of a second ahead of Hamlin.

On Lap 2, while racing side by side with Hamlin, Busch increased his advantage to 0.004 seconds, or around six inches.

On Lap 3, a determined Hamlin reclaimed the lead, albeit only by 0.011 seconds. The opening action established the tone for the whole race, which saw 13 different drivers take the lead 31 times.

However, furious, close-quarters racing throughout the pack amplified what happened at the top of the field.

The close-quarters race came to a halt on Lap 192, eight laps before the halfway point.

Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford hooked the apron with the left-front tire in the second turn after a restart following the 10th caution and turned sideways.

Blaney, Kurt Busch, and William Byron were all eliminated in a 13-car collision caused by that blunder.

After the incident, Blaney said, “I was tucked up close behind the 8 (Tyler Reddick), and he was kind of lower than I anticipated on the front-stretch and kind of raced into the turf, and then got to (Turn) 1 and jerked right.”

“I guess he was up behind the 99 (Suárez) and thought he was going to hit the apron, and I didn’t have time to get right, so I just hit the apron and went loose.”

“It irritates me that other cars have been wrecked.”

That wouldn’t be the last disaster. By the end of the race, 17 of the 37 cars that started the race were already in various states of disrepair in the garage.

Kevin Harvick, Briscoe, and Christopher Bell finished third and fourth, respectively. The top ten were Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Larson, and Alex Bowman.

The Enjoy Illinois 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) is the NASCAR Cup Series’ next race, which takes place at World Wide Technology Raceway west of St. Louis on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).

Note: The Cup Series garage inspection went without a hitch, confirming Hamlin as the race winner. The Nos. 4, 5, 8, and 20 will be returned to the R&D Center for additional testing.