July 1, 2007
By Ron Felix

First Loudon Victory * CIA Stock Photo

Denny Hamlin didn't have a winning car, at least back in the pack in dirty air so No. 11 FedEx crew chief Mike Ford took a gamble to get track position by taking only two tires on the last caution. Everyone else took four tires and with 37 laps to go, Hamlin drove the race of his life by holding off Martin Truex Jr. and four-time champion Jeff Gordon to win the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway on Sunday. Gordon was closing on Hamlin and was actually underneath him on the last lap. Gordon needed at least one more lap to make the pass but ran out of time and settled for second place.

"I'll be watching the video and say, oh, I wish I would have done this or that," Gordon explained after the race. "He started watching his mirror there a little bit with about one or two to go, and when he did that, he started running the inside lane, just protecting the inside lane. It allowed me to get right up on him, so when he ran that inside lane, it really took away his exit. Had I ran my normal line, I think that I might have actually had a run at him and maybe, you know, had a better shot at getting him. But as we came off there, he got loose, I got loose, too, trying to turn underneath him and just made my best effort. I think he kind of knew that even if he got loose off there, it was going to be hard for me to get by him at the start finish line, maybe at turn one, but not the start finish line. "

The victory for Hamlin was the third of his 60 race career and the first at New Hampshire. It had been 32 races since his last win at Pocono in August of 2006. Hamlin is the sixth different winner at New Hampshire in the last six races. Hamlin led a total of 46 laps.

“My right foot was just shaking on the last three laps,” Hamlin said. “You try to hold the gas pedal down and your foot is going like crazy because you get nervous. You see Jeff coming and you’re trying your best not to be that guy who chokes under pressure.”

Martin Truex Jr., looked like he had the car to beat but once Hamlin got by him, the aerodynamics of the car changed and the car wasn't as good as before. Truex finished third and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought his Budweiser Chevrolet home in the fourth spot.

"I was pretty disappointed," said Truex. "I mean, I had like a three-second lead or something; they took it away. I wasn't happy, maybe we should have taken two tires."

Earnhardt was the lap leader with 64 circuits led. Earnhardt's regular crew chief Tony Eury Jr., was suspended for six weeks by NASCAR, returns to action next week but Earnhardt wanted to thank Eury's fill-in, Tony Gibson, for giving him good cars during that period.

"I want to thank Tony Gibson. He filled-in for Tony Jr. and he did a great job," Earnhardt said. "He did more than he was asked and it was a great effort. We had a car that could have won and it was fast all day and that's all I can ask for. A shot to win - that's all any driver can hope for, and this entire team has been giving me that all year. The six races that Tony Gibson was in charge, we had good cars every week and the joke around the shop is that Tony Jr. is under pressure now because we run better with Gibson! (laughs) But, it will be great to be back at full strength with Tony Jr. back next week at Daytona.

Jimmie Johnson was fifth followed by Jeff Green, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman to round out the top ten. Pole sitter Dave Blaney finished 29th -- one lap down. Chevrolets have dominated the new car victories in 2007 and this race was no different. The top eight cars were Chevrolets.

David Ragan finished 15th and took Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the seventh time this season. Ragan is the third different driver to claim top rookie honors in the last three races.

“A 300-lap race doesn’t seem like a long race but here in New Hampshire it took a little longer than a normal 300-lap race," said Ragan. "We’re growing as a team and I’m learning what the car needs on a longer run. We’re fortunate today. We had some longer runs which kind of played into our setup. Like I said, we still have a lot of work to do. That’s a good finish, a good points day. Certainly going to Daytona anything can happen but we’ll have a hot rod down there for the night race and hopefully we’ll have some more fun down there.”

The Nextel Cup Series moves to Daytona International Speedway next Saturday night, July 7th. The race is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and will be televised on TNT.

For full final race results...     (Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Nextel Cup drivers points...     (Insider Racing News)