Denny Hamlin Makes History In 2nd Gatorade Duel

[PressRoom-GFN]

By Deb Williams

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2008) – Denny Hamlin wrote his name in the motorsports history books Thursday with his victory in the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona International Speedway, giving Toyota its first win in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

Hamlin led only once in the race that was red-flagged twice and then forced into a green-white-checker finish due to a late race accident involving Patrick Carpentier.

Tony Stewart, Hamlin's teammate, was leading when Carpentier's Valvoline Dodge cut a right-front tire and slammed into the backstretch wall on lap 59 of the slated 60-lap race. The race was stopped on lap 60 for 6 minutes 4 seconds while workers cleared the track. When the race restarted, the drivers were faced with the “overtime” finish.

Stewart was leading at the time, Hamlin was second and Jeff Gordon third. Rounding out the top five, respectively, were Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin. However, as they raced down the backstretch and headed into turn three, Hamlin dove to the inside of Stewart and took the lead with Gordon in tow. On the final lap, Gordon went to the outside of Hamlin in turns one and two. Kahne latched onto Gordon, while Stewart slid in behind Hamlin. Two-by-two they streaked down the backstretch with Gordon inching ahead. Heading into turn three, the push Stewart provided Hamlin shoved him ahead of Gordon and allowed Stewart to solidly take over second. They crossed the finish line with Hamlin first, Stewart second and Gordon third. Rounding out the top five, respectively, were Kahne and Martin.

It was the first time since 1954 that a non-United States automotive manufacturer had placed a nameplate in a Cup race's victory lane. Al Keller drove a Jaguar to victory in NASCAR's first-ever road race, the International 100, which was held on the runways of the Linden Airport in Linden, N.J., on June 13, 1954.

Hamlin and Stewart talked during the second red flag and Stewart informed Hamlin of Gordon's habits on restarts. Stewart also knew that if Hamlin got a run on him, he had to take it.

“I think I was more on the brake there after they threw the green than I was actually on the throttle making sure me and Tony didn't pull away and he had basically the whole field behind him with a huge run,” Hamlin said after claiming his first Daytona qualifying race victory by leading the event's final two laps.

“So, basically, I wanted to keep my rear bumper to his [Gordon] front bumper instead of him driving up to my rear bumper. I was using the brake to make sure I was attached to his front bumper; that way I had a huge run on Tony.

“Obviously, we knew with the huge run we had going down the back straightaway, if I would have chose to hit Tony there that would have been a huge opportunity for Jeff to pull down and pass both of us with relative ease.

“We knew at the end it was going to be tough for us to finish 1-2 by simply riding that way. We needed to kind of almost exchange positions to kind of get that finish we needed at the end, because we knew the 24 [Gordon], the 8 [Martin] and the 9 [Kahne] were all planning something behind us.”

Stewart said he believed the race's outcome would have been different if the third and final caution flag hadn't waved.

“But, you know, the important thing was to keep Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2 no matter what the order was,” Stewart continued. “That's what I told Denny during that red flag period. One of the two of us has to win this race. If you get a run, you've got to go. Don't try to help me and get yourself in a bad spot.

“He got a run that he couldn't stop. If he would have tried to go with me, we probably both would have ended up fourth or fifth. I thought he did a great job.”

Michael Waltrip, also in a Toyota, was the event's top lap leader, setting the pace on three occasions for 17 laps. However, it was the actions he took to make sure teammate Dale Jarrett made it into his final Daytona 500 that created the most interest. Waltrip forsake a chance to win the race to help Jarrett.

After the race's midpoint, Waltrip dropped outside the top five, fell in behind Jarrett and pushed his UPS Toyota to the front while working to keep those that could eliminate Jarrett from Sunday's race behind him. In the race's later stages, Michael Waltrip Racing teammate David Reutimann joined the act. While the race was under its second red flag, Waltrip told Jarrett on their two-way radio: “We have got your back. Nobody is going past me and David.” Kevin Harvick also told his spotter to tell Jarrett that he would help him as well.

“Tell Kevin, thank you. I will talk nice about him on TV,” replied Jarrett, who's moving into the ESPN booth as soon as he retires from driving.

Jarrett said that in the first part of the race he wanted to “hang out and see what was gonna transpire.”
“I saw a lot of cars that looked a little out of shape up in front of me,” Jarrett said. “I found myself what I thought was a reasonably comfortable spot. Then, after we made our pit stop and went back to racing and Michael (Waltrip) got back there, my car was good, especially through the corners.

“I needed just a little push to make that extra pass. Michael came back and gave me that whenever I needed it, and it really meant a lot. The car drove well. The engine ran good. Now we'll just work on a few things for Sunday.”

Jarrett said his car was good enough for him to have made the Daytona 500 field without Waltrip's help.

“It made my job easier knowing that I had someone there at my back,” Jarrett admitted. “My car was good enough to drive up there and do what I needed to do. I knew my car was really good. I was just free enough that I knew I shouldn't be hurt in the right-front tire, and that I could run around the top when I needed to do that.

“He got lost there a couple of times from me and I was still OK. But my car was good enough to do what I needed to do. (Michael was) kind of like an insurance policy, basically, and we all have that. So it was nice to have that there.”

In addition to Jarrett, the other driver who raced his way into the 50th Daytona 500 was John Andretti, who opted to take four fresh tires on his Makoto Chevrolet during the final caution flag.

“I don't know what to say. I didn't expect to be here,” said a happy Andretti, whose uncle Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500 in 1967. “In the race, there were some guys that really did treat me fair. One of them is sitting to my right [David Reutimann]. Tony (Stewart) helped me at the beginning.

“The last lap for me was everything. I wasn't in the race 'til I came off turn four. I guess that's all that matters.”

Hamlin, Stewart and Gordon all had to come from the back of the field to claim their top three finishing positions, as all three had engine changes in their cars prior to the event. Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti also had to start in the rear because he missed driver introductions.

Those drivers who were in the second Gatorade Duel who failed to make the Daytona 500 were Stanton Barrett, Jacques Villeneuve, Eric McClure, Carpentier, and Ken Schrader.

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