Denny Hamlin led only eight laps today to get his first win of the season in the Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 from Michigan International Speedway.
After a tumultuous start to the weekend when all three Joe Gibbs Racing cars had their oil pans removed from the engines because they were not approved by NASCAR, Hamlin finished his weekend off well. He didn't dominate the race like he did at this race last year but the result was the exact same.
It looked like Kyle Busch or Matt Kenseth would have the cars to beat today. Busch led a total of 60 laps today and Kenseth led 16 laps, but ran in the top three the entire race. But clean air was everything today, and once Hamlin got clean air on the restart neither driver really had anything for him.
Kevin Harvick looked like he was going to be strong again, but the team couldn't find a way to tighten the car up. Every time he pit the car would get even looser than before. He was running the high line and making it work like usual, but eventually the car just got too loose and he got into the wall with just under 30 laps to go. He restarted 21st with five laps to go but somehow managed to finish 14th and move into second in the points.
Today marked the three year anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Jr's last win, and it looked like he may have had a chance to end his losing streak today until he got in the wall late. He was squeezed up into the turn two wall by his own teammate, Mark Martin. Then with nine laps to go he blew a right front tire and smacked the wall even harder. It basically ended his day and relegated him to a twenty-first place finish.
Harvick and Busch's rematch did not amount to any thing today. Today was the first race off of probation for each driver since their altercation after the race at Darlington. Many people were expecting fireworks to happen since Harvick says he still owes Busch some payback, but nothing happened. Except for the start of the race and a restart with about 25 laps to go, the two drivers were never near each other for anything to happen.
Top 5:
Hamlin
Kenseth
Kyle Busch
Menard
Edwards
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