DENNY HAMLIN WINS NASCAR RACE AT POCONO

Denny Hamlin, pegged as a future NASCAR superstar, ended a ‘sophomore slump’ of sorts on Monday when he won the rain delayed Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.  The race had originally been scheduled for Sunday but was pushed back a day due to rain.  The win was Hamlin’s first of the season and broke a 50 race winless streak.  His last victory had come in 2008 at Martinsville Raceway.

Hamlin took the checkered flag as a +800 choice to win.  Jimmie Johnson went off the race favorite at +200, followed by Mark Martin and Carl Edwards at +700 and Tony Stewart at +750.  Hamlin had to work hard to hold off a hard charging Juan Pablo Montoya on the last lap, and had the Spanish driver caught him his backers would have enjoyed a nice +1800 payday.
 
After the race, an emotional Hamlin dedicated the victory to his grandmother who passed away late last week at the age of 91.  His grandmother reportedly watched every race holding her #11 teddy bear—with her eyes just a few inches from the screen as her vision worsened with age:

“She understands the competition of the sport and she understands how much she means to me. Like today, she's pretty proud. We definitely had some angels with us today."

Hamlin has always raced well on the unique triangle configuration track at Pocono.  He swept both races here as a rookie in 2006 and after the race his boss J.D. Gibbs made note of that fact:

“I told him earlier, we're going to lobby for a few extra races at Pocono"

Hamlin is now fifth in the NASCAR championship points standings after the victory.  Tony Stewart increased his lead over Jimmie Johnson to 197 points with a 10th place finish.

Montoya finished second, and now stands in 8th place in the overall points standings.  Clint Bowyer finished third and expressed pleasure with the solid performance in his postrace comments:

"Things haven't been going our way all year long so it feels good to have something swing our way.”

Former Indy Car driver Sam Hornish, Jr. took fourth—his best finish since coming to NASCAR.  Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five.

Points leader Stewart will have a good opportunity to increase his lead this weekend, as NASCAR heads to Watkins Glen, NY to race on the road course there.  Stewart is considered not only the best road course driver among current NASCAR competitors, but arguably the best of all time.  The following week NASCAR travels to the Michigan International Speedway for the CarFax 400.