Denny Hamlin fought off a mid-race challenge from Matt Kenseth, then drove away for a dominating victory Saturday in the Carfax 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Hamlin picked up his second Busch win of the season and the fourth of his career. His victory gave Cup regulars 22 victories in 25 tries on the Busch circuit this season.
A crash in Friday’s practice forced Hamlin’s crew to scramble to get his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet back in shape for racing.
But it was ready for the start of the 125-lap race and so was Hamlin.
Kenseth swapped leads with him a couple of times before the 26-year-old took control, turning the race on Michigan’s 2-mile oval into a snoozer. Hamlin led four times for 69 laps, including the last 40 laps.
There were three caution flags, all during the first 36 laps, and Hamlin took advantage of green-flag racing the rest of the way. He steadily pulled away, beating Kenseth to the finish line by 6.988 seconds – the length of the front straightaway.
Mark Martin, who had just taken fourth place away from Greg Biffle, ran out of gas on the final lap and wound up 14th.
Hamlin praised his crew, saying, “I can’t say enough for those guys for putting this car back in one piece. It was even better than it was before.”
NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is perplexed, frustrated – and still feeling confident.
NASCAR’s most popular driver knows his No. 8 Chevrolet team is good enough to compete for a Nextel Cup championship, so why is it 14th in the points and in danger of missing the Chase for the championship for the second time in three years?
“The last few months, I can’t believe how bad our luck has been because we’ve run up front every week,” Earnhardt said.
Coming off an engine failure – his fourth this year – and a 42nd-place finish last week at Watkins Glen, Earnhardt heads into today’s 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway with finishes of 19th or worse in four of his last five starts.
The only bright spot during that stretch was a runner-up finish two weeks ago at Pocono that at least kept him in the battle for a postseason spot.
With just four races remaining before the start of the 10-race Chase, Earnhardt’s team is 100 points behind Kurt Busch in 12th place and in desperate need of a win – or at least a top-10 finish.
“I’m sure some people are going to write us off for the Chase after our problems at Watkins Glen,” Earnhardt said. “But I think it’s foolish to do so because we’re a great team and we’re going to do everything we can to scratch and claw and fight for wins and every position on every lap.”
NHRA: Whit Bazemore, Bob Vandergriff, Kurt Johnson, Chip Ellis and Karen Stoffer clinched spots in the Countdown to the Championship during qualifying Saturday for the 23rd annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Mohnton, Pa.
The final seven open slots will be filled during today’s elimination racing at Maple Grove Raceway.
Motocross: Mat Mladin of Australia earned his 60th AMA Superbike victory – and ninth of the season – at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va.
Motorsports: Today’s races
NASCAR NEXTEL CUP
3M Performance 400
Site: Brooklyn, Mich.
TV: ESPN, noon.
Track: Michigan International Speedway (D-shaped oval, 2 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 400 miles, 200 laps.
Last race: Tony Stewart took advantage of a stunning mistake by Jeff Gordon with two laps to go to win the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Gordon, who started from the pole and led a race-high 51 laps, seemed to have his 10th road course victory in hand, but he spun out on his own heading into the first turn with Stewart a couple of car-lengths behind. Gordon finished ninth.
Last year: Matt Kenseth easily kept Gordon at bay in the final laps to win his third race of the season. Gordon charged from 12th place on a restart with 36 laps to go in the 200-lap race – but he ran out of time and finished 10 car-lengths behind Kenseth.
Next race: Sharpie 500, Saturday, Bristol, Tenn.
On the Net:
NHRA
Toyo Tires Nationals
Site: Reading, Pa.
TV: ESPN2, 8 p.m. tape.
Track: Maple Grove Raceway.
Last event: John Force won his 125th funny car event by beating Kenny Bernstein by about 2 feet in a meeting of drag-racing legends. In the two legends’ first meeting in 18 years, Force’s 4.794-second run at 316.60 mph was faster by 0.0048 seconds. Bernstein’s son, Brandon, beat Larry Dixon in the top fuel final. In pro stock, Jeg Coughlin became just the 11th racer in NHRA’s 56-year history with 50 national wins when he beat Greg Anderson. Andrew Hines beat teammate Eddie Krawiec in an all-Harley-Davidson final.
Last year: Rookie J.R. Todd raced to his third top fuel victory, using a career-best pass of 4.494 seconds to beat Melanie Troxel in the final. Phil Burkart snapped a 53-race winless streak in funny car. Three-time pro stock champion Greg Anderson also won, while Karen Stoffer topped the pro stock motorcycle field.
Next event: Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Sept. 3, Clermont, Ind.
On the Net:
