Hamlin Recovers from Late Accident to Finish Top 15

Florida has suffered one of its wettest months on record and the rain total continued to grow on Thursday as all track activities were canceled. Friday was an early morning as NASCAR had scheduled Cup Practice, Busch Practice, Cup & Busch Qualifying and the Busch Race. The #20 showed strength early by putting up the second quickest practice time. As rain threatened on the horizon, they were able to get it all in but the #20 car was only able to put up the 10 th quickest time.

Starting the race about an hour late, the competitors were ready to go. When the race started, the cars took the green side by side. Then as the pack rolled onto the backstretch, Hamlin received contact from behind and was shoved out of line. Making slight contact with the wall, the #20 car became extremely tight and Hamlin slipped back to 19 th . When the caution flew on lap 14, Cully Barraclough immediately called for the team to come to pit road for tires and to fix the fender damage. Taking a little extra time to make sure they got it fixed correctly, Hamlin returned to the track in the 35 th position.

With the car fixed, Hamlin began his assault on the front of the field. Moving five positions on the first green flag lap; Hamlin was off to the front. Picking up positions each lap, Hamlin caught the lead pack 13 laps later. As the long green flag lap continued Hamlin was 7 th when caution flag flew on lap 56. Still reporting the car tight, Hamlin followed the leaders to pit road for four tires and a track bar adjustment. With three cars not pitting, Hamlin returned to the track in the 10 th position.

The race restarted on lap 61 and Hamlin quickly worked his way into the top five. He continued in the top five until the 38 car slowed and Hamlin was forced to lift dropping back to 12 th . Within three laps, Hamlin returned to the top five and reported that his car was the best that it was all night. Caution flew on lap 79 and several of the leaders headed to pit road. Barraclough chose to leave Hamlin on the track since the car was at its best and they only had 16 green flag laps on the tires.

Hamlin took the restart as the leader of the race with several lap down cars on the inside. Getting loose into turn one, Hamlin struggled to clear the lapped traffic. With the fresh tires behind him, the others began to gain positions and when the caution flew on lap 88, he was in the 10 th position. With 29 cars still on the lead lap, Hamlin stayed on the track for the 8 lap shootout. The racing was furious and cars were fighting tooth and nail for each position. On lap 98, the 34 car of Randy Lajoie tried to make a pass Jon Wood and they made contact causing an 18 car accident. The #20 received contact in the rear and was sent spinning down the backstretch. After a 30 minute red flag period, Hamlin brought the car to pit road and received four new tires and a repair to the machine. Restarting in the 17 th position, Hamlin picked up three spots in the final two laps to finish 14 th on the same lap as the leaders.

“Our car was just not as good as the one at Talladega,” commented Hamlin following the race. “It just did not suck up to other cars the way we did in April. We took a gamble at the end by not pitting. There could have been that big pile up anytime and we may have looked like hero. We were still in position to have a good finish, but just ran into trouble at the end. At least we were able to finish in top 15 and head on to Chicago.”

The Busch Series will return to action next week for the USC Durock 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. The race is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on NBC.