August 19, 2007
By Ron Felix

Hamlin Celebrates Busch Victory * CIA Stock Photo

Denny Hamlin, driving the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, had a dominate car when the race started and it only got better from there. Hamlin first took the lead on lap 27 by beating everyone out of the pits following the second caution and although he fell back in the pack for various reasons, he was able to drive right back to the front.

The final clincher came on the final pit stop when Matt Kenseth was leading and Hamlin was running second. Both drivers made green flag stops and were nose-to-tail coming into the pits but Kenseth's right front tire changer dropped a lugnut. The extra 2 1/2 seconds it took on Kenseth's car was the difference when both drivers got back up to speed. Hamlin used that advantage and clean air to pull away from Kenseth and drive on to victory.

It was the fourth win for Hamlin in the Busch Series in 66 career races and his tenth top-10 finish in 14 Busch Series races this season

“We had a really good car,” Hamlin said. “Even in practice we felt that we had a car that could contend for a win. We went out and hit the wall pretty good (during practice on Friday) and it was kind of a downer for the team to have to fix the car when they shouldn’t have had to. We repaired the car and we knew when we qualified fifth with the hot conditions that we were going to have a really good car. Today was kind of uneventful. I had a lot of fun racing Greg (Biffle) and Matt (Kenseth) at one point.”

Hamlin’s margin of victory was 6.998 seconds, the widest difference in track history.

Hamlin was so comfortable in the car that when he was coming off the fourth and final turn, he joked with his crew that he was running out of gas. “I made them jump on the wall, I’m sure,” Hamlin said laughing. “It happened at Indy and it wasn’t so funny. I figured I could coast anyway, even if I did run out.”

Kenseth held on for second although he was losing ground near the end.

“I could pass him and he could pass me,” Kenseth said. “We didn’t quite make the changes we needed to be there. We would have liked the chance to battle them at the end. We just got too far behind on the green flag pit stop and couldn’t make it.”

Kevin Harvick finished a strong third, putting pressure on Kenseth for second and Harvick's teammate Jeff Burton brought his RCR Chevrolet home in the fourth spot. Greg Biffle, who looked to have a fast car early, faded to fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Brian Vickers, Paul Menard, Todd Bodine, Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer.

Carl Edwards, on a long slow slide, had another frustrating day at the track. Twenty-five laps into the event, Edwards did a slide job on Reed Sorenson and Sorenson couldn't get out of the gas pedal quick enough. He touched the back of Edwards' car and sent him spinning. Edwards finished 28 and now leads second place Kevin Harvick in the Busch Series point standings by an even 700.

The next Busch Series race will be at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee on Friday, August 24, 2007.

For full final race results...     (Final Results)
For top-40 Nextel Cup drivers points...     (Busch Series Points)