Denny Hamlin, Darian Grubb, and the entire Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 11 Fed Ex Freight Toyota team flexed their collective muscle by dominating the Sylvania 300 from New Hampshire International Speedway.
Starting 32nd for the race held on Sunday afternoon in Loudon, NH, Hamlin plowed through the field and took the lead around lap 100. He held fast to that lead the rest of the day (193 laps led) with the team executing flawless pit stops and great strategy that led to their fifth win of the 2012 season and the first for the Chase this year.
This was the 100th win for JGR and the 202nd win for the No. 11 car.
Jimmie Johnson placed second in Sunday’s race. The finish was strong enough to propel the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion to the top of the leaderboard in points.
Jeff Gordon, pole sitter for Sunday’s race, bounced back a bit from last week’s frustrating finish with a solid third place run. Clint Bowyer took fourth. Kasey Kahne, winner at New Hampshire earlier this season, took fifth.
Brad Keselowski finished sixth. Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup ChampionTony Stewart came in seventh. Non-Chase racer and teammate of Hamlin’s Joey Logano brought home eighth. Brian Vickers, part-time driver in the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 car, earned ninth. Ryan Newman, teammate of Stewart, brought up the top-ten.
As mentioned, Johnson currently has the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points. He has a one point lead over Keselowski.
Hamlin is only six points behind Keselowski. Stewart is in fourth and Kahne is in fifth.
Bowyer is in sixth for another week. Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished 13th in the race, maintains the seventh spot. Kevin Harvick improved his position by two with his 11th place finish that landed him in eighth. Greg Biffle fell one spot to ninth after his 18th place finish in the race. Martin Truex Jr. finished 17th in the race and dropped one spot to tenth. Matt Kenseth, 14th in the race, and Gordon, third, are still 11th and 12th respectively in the points.
Chase Race No. 3 is happening at Dover International Speedway for the AAA 400. The race will be run on Sunday, September 30th. The broadcast will be on ESPN at begins at 1pm EST.
Stay tuned for the race and then tune in here for my AAA 400 Race Recap.
Candice Smith is a writer, columnist, and blogger as well as creator of the widely popular Chief 187™ Chatter. Her works have been featured under the pen name Chief 187™ around the Internet including a syndicated post within the Indie Republic Network where she has conducted in-depth interviews with musicians, Mixed Martial Artists, and other personalities as well as waxes poetic on myriad topics.
Candice Smith is currently writing her second season of her original column “Why I Love NASCAR” by Chief 187™ on Skirts and Scuffs.
Additionally, another of her NASCAR columns can be found at MotorsportsUnplugged.com. Smith also contributes articles and NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Recaps weekly at WowShaneRadio.com.
Smith began her Internet writing career at Rowdy.com where she honed her blogging skills and reawakened her love of NASCAR.
Candice Smith can be heard throughout the week co-hosting motorsports programs on Internet radio. She is the guest co-host of Motorsports Unplugged Radio with Michele Rahal, co-host of “Burning Rubber Radio” as well as creator and host of her own racing show “Drafting the Circuits” on WhooBazoo.com. “Drafting the Circuits” and “Burning Rubber Radio” are rebroadcast on Performance Motorsports Network every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
She can be reached via Twitter by following @Chief187s.
To find out more please visit http://Chief187.com.
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