BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin, his No. 11 Toyota becoming a distant speck on the horizon to the rest of the field late in Sunday’s NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway, heard the caution call come over the radio and tried not to roll his eyes.
He knows nobody wants to watch a driver lead by 10 seconds, as he was doing at the time. It makes for bad TV.
And even though Hamlin didn’t see any debris on the track when the yellow flag flew, he didn’t exactly panic when his massive advantage was wiped out.
“I understand this is show business,” Hamlin said.
Besides, it turned out to be no big deal for NASCAR’s latest showstopper.
Hamlin easily pulled away from Kasey Kahne on the restart with 14 laps left and rolled to his fifth win of the season.
“I didn’t like watching him drive away from me, but I wasn’t surprised when he did,” Kahne said. “I thought we had a really good car . . . the 11 was just a touch better.”
Kahne highlighted a resurgent day for Ford by finishing second, followed in order by Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.
Four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson was sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was seventh.
However, they were merely bystanders as Hamlin continued his hot streak that began with a victory in Martinsville in late March.
He led 123 laps and has won five of the past 10 races.
“It seems like I used to go into every season thinking, ‘We ought to get a couple wins, Martinsville, Pocono,’ ” Hamlin said. “Now it’s just show up and, hey, we can win.”
Although Hamlin remains third in points behind Kevin Harvick with 11 races to go before the Chase begins, the bonus points from his five victories would have him in first if the Chase started today.
