Loudon, NH (Best E Casino) - Denny Hamlin had been frustrated all season, but he fought off Jeff Gordon to capture Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway. The No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet crossed the finish line one length ahead of the four-time series champion for his first victory of the season and third of his Nextel Cup career.
"We finally got a win," said Hamlin, who had led a total of 665 laps this year without a victory.
For the first time in Nextel Cup history, a Toyota-powered car led the field to the green flag. Driving the No.22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, pole winner Dave Blaney went side-by-side with Kurt Busch on the first lap. The Toyota managed to hold the Dodge at bay and took control of the race as the top-10 cars got single file.
Blaney easily led the first 25 laps while Gordon began a surge towards the leaders. He made his was around Juan Montoya, Reed Sorenson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he slid into third place behind Busch. On lap 29 Gordon powered around Busch and he was gaining on Blaney.
Blaney and Gordon were side-by-side going into turn three of lap 30. Gordon held to the bottom of the track and completed the pass for the first lead change of the afternoon.
Gordon's No.24 Chevy was really working well and within just a couple of laps the lead was two seconds. Blaney was beginning to fade. Busch, "Junior" and Reed Sorenson all got by the pole sitter.
At lap 55 Gordon began to lap cars and the traffic allowed Busch and Earnhardt Jr. to close the gap. Gordon put Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd a lap down as he continued to set a quick pace. Behind him "Junior" and Busch were matching him. Also moving up were Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards.
Green flag pit stops began on lap 68. On the next lap Gordon took his turn giving up the lead to Earnhardt Jr. The No.8 pit crew was brilliant on the first stop and Earnhardt Jr. returned to the track in front of Gordon. When everyone had cycled through, Junior held a 1.332-second lead.
A lap 98 debris caution flag brought everyone to pit lane again. Busch and Johnson were the first two off pit road with soon-to-be teammates Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon third and fourth, respectively as the field passed the 100-lap mark.
"Junior's" Chevy was still working well and he quickly disposed of Busch and Johnson for the lead. Another caution flag and Johnson used a fuel-only stop to take the lead. One driver who lost on the stop was Newman. When he left pit lane he ran over the air hose - a penalty. He dropped from third to 27th.
Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch got around Johnson and began to fight for the lead amongst themselves. They were two seconds ahead of Edwards in third. Busch built the lead to almost one second at the mid-point of the 300-lap event.
Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr. and Edwards were content to stay one-two-three and they created a gap of two seconds between themselves and fourth-place Martin Truex Jr. Then on lap 182 Earnhardt Jr. dropped to the bottom of the track and beat Busch into the third turn and the lead was his. Busch began to drop back and Edwards took up the chase.
It was another long green flag run and pit stops began on about lap 193 with Gordon the first of the leaders. Edwards pitted from the lead on lap 194 and the jack broke in the middle of the stop. The 47-second disaster ended any chance for the No.99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to win the race.
With Edwards down a lap, Earnhardt Jr. and his DEI teammate Truex Jr. were on top of the charts as the field reached 200 laps.
Truex Jr. was going to ask his teammate if he could lead a lap, but then he realized he was the faster Chevrolet and he just flew around "Junior" on lap 210. The No.1 Chevy slowly opened his lead - to 1.264 seconds on lap 215, 1.311 on lap 220 and 1.737 by lap 225.
Gordon got around Earnhardt Jr. but Truex Jr. continued to pour it on and with 65 laps remaining his lead had ballooned to 3.529 seconds. The lead was almost four seconds when a debris caution on lap 254 erased his lead in a heartbeat.
Final pit stops commenced and Hamlin (two tires) led Truex Jr. (four tires) to the restart with 37 laps remaining. Hamlin posted his fastest lap of the day as they went back to green, but Truex Jr. right with him. Still, he had to find a way around the No.11 JGR Chevrolet who was determined to get his first win of the season.
Hamlin edged out to a 0.440-second lead with 25 laps to go. He held 1.037 seconds on Gordon, who was in third place. Gordon joined the battle as he got right on Truex Jr.'s bumper with 15 laps to go. But the battle between Truex Jr. and Gordon was allowing Hamlin to build on his lead.
"We were a top-four car, but I knew all we needed was some clean air for this car to be good," said Hamlin.
Ten laps remained and Hamlin held 0.636 seconds. Meanwhile, Gordon and Truex Jr. were side-by-side for second. Six laps to go, Hamlin was up almost one second as Gordon took over second place.
But there was no "give-up" in Gordon as he cut into Hamlin's lead. The lead was down to three lengths as they saw the white flag. Gordon went deep into the final corner and got right up to Hamlin's bumper. Hamlin got loose, fishtailed, but regain control and drove it to the checkered flag and the win.
"We were running Denny down," said Gordon. "The last two laps he started watching his mirror and I thought we had a shot at him. That was fun."
"I was trying not to make a mistake," said Hamlin. "Those guys had fresh tires and they were coming. Martin (Truex Jr.) held him up just enough to get the win."
Gordon will bring a 156-point lead over Hamlin for next Saturday night's traditional summer shootout at the Daytona International Speedway.
