Denny Hamlin

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Denny Hamlin, competing with a torn ACL, became the first driver to advance to the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by winning Sunday’s MyAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. The victory was the 26th of Hamlin’s career, tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen for 27th on the all-time list.

No matter where Hamlin finishes in the next two Challenger Round races, he automatically transfers to the Contender Round, which contains races at Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega.

Maybe more impressive than Hamlin’s win is the bet he won with arguably the fiercest competitor in sports – his pal Michael Jordan.

After the race, Hamlin explained:

“Well, I know one thing for sure. The first thing I’m going to do is text Michael Jordan. He texted me on Wednesday. He said he was in Monte-Carlo. I popped in his head like I always do, which I thought was a little odd. He says, I know you’re about to head into the playoffs. I just want you to know I’ve never admitted to anybody that anyone is better than me at anything my whole life. But if you win this race this weekend, I will admit that you’re a better driver than I am.

“I thought, Wow! That would be awesome. I just thought of that just now. So the first thing I’m going to do is text him and say, ‘Admit it, I’m better than you, and I want everyone to know.’”

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CS_NSCS_Hamlin_Grid_092015Sept. 20, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

JOLIET, Ill. – In the theater, using the expression “Break a leg” is a way to wish an actor good luck on opening night.

Twelve days before Sunday’s opening Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, Denny Hamlin tore the ACL in his right leg playing basketball.

Late in the myAFibRisk.com 400 at the 1.5-mile track, Hamlin found his good fortune in the form of a serendipitous pit call on the part of crew chief Dave Rogers.

Staying out on old tires, Hamlin grabbed the lead moments after a restart with five laps left and streaked away to a .963-second victory over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards, who surged from sixth to second during that restart on Lap 263 of 267.

Hamlin saw an opening as the cars roared toward Turn 1 on the restart.

“It was ballsy, but I’d been stuck so many times three-wide in the middle,” Hamlin said of the winning move. “The front cars almost have a disadvantage to the back cars the way it all plays out.

“We got a great restart, and I just held it wide open through (Turns) 1 and 2, and it stuck. We were able to get in that clean air and take off.”

Remarkably, Hamlin won from the 29th starting position, rallying from a spin on Lap 2 that left him a lap down. Hamlin didn’t get back on the lead lap until he took advantage of a wave-around before a restart on Lap 129.

“Luckily, that one caution (for debris on the backstretch on Lap 122) came out that allowed us to get the wave-around and get back on the lead lap,” Hamlin said. “We had a fast car, and that was the most important thing. We stretched out there at the end even with no tires.

CS_NSCS_Hamlin_BO_092015“I’m proud of this effort. The pit crew did a phenomenal job again and now we’re looking forward to the next round.”

Hamlin’s first victory at Chicagoland, his second of the season and the 16th of his career ensured the driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota will advance from the Challenger Round to the Contender Round of the Chase, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to New Hampshire and the second race of the postseason.

Reigning champion Kevin Harvick wasn’t as fortunate. The driver who vowed to pound the JGR drivers into the ground three days before the Chase began instead pounded the Turn 3 wall with the rear of his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet after contact with Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevy during a Lap 135 restart flattened Harvick’s left rear tire.

“I got a pretty good restart, and obviously, the 22 (Joey Logano) and 48 got a good run, and I just held my line and the 48 just slammed into the side of my door,” Harvick said. “That was pretty much it.”

Johnson had a simple explanation for the contact.

“He was pinning me down, and I’ve got to get back up on the track,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t say that what he did is any different than other situations I’ve been in like that. When you’re in Kevin’s situation, you want to give that inside car a bad angle, so they’ve got to lift.

“I was fine with lifting, but I had to get back on the race track. So I worked my way back onto the track… I pulled down inside of him, and then we were door-to-door, and then, as I moved back into the racing groove, that’s when we touched door-to-door, tire-to-tire.”

Now last in the Chase standings, Harvick feels he must win one of the next two races to advance to the Contender Round. That’s not a new position for the driver of the No. 4 Chevy. Last year he triumphed in a must-win situation at Phoenix before taking the checkered flag at Homestead to secure his first premier series title.

“We can win anywhere,” Harvick said after the race. “We could have won today. It’s just a matter of putting a couple of days together and being able to come back to Victory Lane. Same thing as last year.”

After the race, Harvick, who finished 42nd, confronted Johnson and pounded the six-time Sprint Cup champion with a blow to the chest. Kept apart by one of Harvick’s lieutenants, the drivers then went their separate ways without further incident.

Kurt Busch, who like Hamlin stayed out on old tires, led the field to green on Lap 263 after the sixth caution for debris in Turn 1 slowed the race. Busch fell to third at the finish, followed by 2014 Chase runner-up Ryan Newman, who posted his first top-five finish since April at Bristol.

Matt Kenseth ran fifth and assumed the series lead, bolstered by 12 bonus points earned for four victories in the 26-race regular season.

Notes: In a manner of speaking, history repeated itself where Hamlin is concerned. In 2010, he won at Texas, just 10 days after surgery to repair the torn ACL in his left leg… With 12 of 16 drivers slated to advance to the Contender Round, Jamie McMurray (16th on Sunday), Paul Menard (17th), Clint Bowyer (19th) and Harvick are currently below the cut line.

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during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 20, 2015 in Joliet, Illinois.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – myAFibRisk.com 400
Chicagoland Speedway
Joliet, Illinois
Sunday, September 20, 2015

1. (29) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, $306315.
2. (14) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 267, $213655.
3. (9) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, $195005.
4. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, $180280.
5. (12) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267, $170641.
6. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, $162903.
7. (18) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, $144478.
8. (3) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, $158111.
9. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, $163361.
10. (20) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, $146381.
11. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, $152321.
12. (19) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $122025.
13. (4) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $131670.
14. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, $148986.
15. (28) David Ragan, Toyota, 267, $131664.
16. (13) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 266, $138141.
17. (16) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 266, $110350.
18. (27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 265, $110250.
19. (26) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 265, $135108.
20. (24) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 265, $126903.
21. (17) Greg Biffle, Ford, 265, $131078.
22. (21) Brian Scott(i), Chevrolet, 265, $115003.
23. (31) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 265, $120278.
24. (8) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 264, $112320.
25. (23) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 264, $124034.
26. (25) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 264, $104095.
27. (36) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 263, $95495.
28. (30) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 263, $136470.
29. (33) Cole Whitt, Ford, 263, $105853.
30. (22) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 262, $119290.
31. (38) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 262, $92745.
32. (35) David Gilliland, Ford, 262, $108592.
33. (40) Josh Wise, Ford, 261, $90845.
34. (37) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 261, $90645.
35. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 261, $90410.
36. (15) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 260, $108220.
37. (32) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 259, $89953.
38. (41) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 259, $84528.
39. (39) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 258, $80465.
40. (42) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 258, $76465.
41. (43) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 255, $72465.
42. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 209, $126690.
43. (5) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 198, $101901.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 140.117 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 51 Mins, 30 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.962 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps.
Lead Changes: 17 among 10 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Harvick 1-5; J. Logano 6; M. Truex Jr. 7-45; Kyle Busch 46-128; K. Harvick 129-133; Kyle Busch 134-143; J. Gordon 144-183; Kurt Busch 184; Kyle Busch 185; K. Larson 186-187; C. Edwards 188-193; Kyle Busch 194-220; Kurt Busch 221-239; D. Hamlin 240-243; M. Kenseth 244; Kurt Busch 245-261; J. Gordon 262; D. Hamlin 263-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 4 times for 121 laps; J. Gordon 2 times for 41 laps; M. Truex Jr. 1 time for 39 laps; Kurt Busch 3 times for 37 laps; K. Harvick 2 times for 10 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 9 laps; C. Edwards 1 time for 6 laps; K. Larson 1 time for 2 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 1 lap; J. Logano 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: M. Kenseth – 2,052; D. Hamlin – 2,050; C. Edwards – 2,049; Kyle Busch – 2,049; Kurt Busch – 2,048; J. Logano – 2,048; J. Johnson – 2,045; R. Newman – 2,040; B. Keselowski – 2,039; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 2,038; M. Truex Jr. – 2,035; J. Gordon – 2,031; J. Mcmurray – 2,028; P. Menard – 2,027; C. Bowyer – 2,025; K. Harvick – 2,009.

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RICHMOND, Va. – How confident is Denny Hamlin that he’ll advance to the Championship 4 Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Homestead-Miami Speedway?

So much so that he hasn’t even contemplated the prospect of surgery to his injured right knee, if he’s eliminated in one of the earlier rounds of the Chase.

“Actually, had not even thought about being eliminated—that’s how confident I am right now that we’re not going to (be). If we do, I don’t know. You want to finish the year strong and I think the way the points all work out you still can move up to fifth or something like that.

“I think, either way, off-season is going to be the best option (for surgery) as long as I can make it that long.”

Hamlin tore the ACL in his right knee playing basketball on Tuesday night. It’s not the first time his ardent pursuit of hoops has interfered with his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. In the spring of 2010, Hamlin tore the ACL in his left knee and had surgery during an off week but didn’t miss a race.

This time it’s the right knee, which faces less stress with the gas pedal than the left leg does with the brake. With the Chase looming, Hamlin has chosen to postpone surgery and put up with the discomfort outside the car. He showed up in the media center at Richmond International Raceway on Friday as he prepared for Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN), aided by a single crutch.

In a league basketball game, Hamlin hit a driving layup at the end of regulation play to send the contest into overtime. He tore the ACL in the extra period. But the mishap hasn’t quelled his optimism about his chances for a championship, a confidence that extends to the entire Joe Gibbs Racing roster, which also includes Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and last week’s Darlington winner, Carl Edwards.

“I think our cars are obviously very good right now,” Hamlin said. “And, yeah, there’s no reason why… we all said in January that our goal is to have four cars at Homestead with a chance to win, and I don’t see — except for bad luck — anything that can keep that from happening.”

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2013 Bristol1 March Qual Denny Hamlin On GridJGR Driver is Expected to Race This Weekend in Richmond
And Through the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship

HUNTERSVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA (September 9, 2015) – Joe Gibbs Racing announces today that driver Denny Hamlin suffered a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his right knee while playing basketball Tuesday night.

Hamlin had a MRI this morning to confirm the diagnosis and has been evaluated by the medical team at OrthoCarolina. He has received the medical clearance necessary to continue racing activities and is expected to race the remainder of the season and through the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Hamlin will require surgery to repair the ACL damage following the season.