“I Couldn’t Hold Lee Petty’s Helmet”- Denny Hamlin Humbles Down After Wild Predictions Turns the Tide at Dover

Denny Hamlin has equaled Lee Petty’s record of 54 NASCAR Cup wins with his heroics at Dover Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 11 car was in a commanding position ever since he took the lead coming off the pit road and managed to keep Kyle Larson at bay coming to the checkered flag. Surprisingly, he had predicted his win at Dover in his podcast show and now he’s finally delivered on his promise.

However, when he finally got the chequered flag, he was humbled. “The winning moment was getting around him on that quick restart,” he said from the victory lane. “It’s similar to Texas, where I was controlling it until I wasn’t. The tide turned today.”

This was Hamlin’s third win of the season, drawing him level with William Byron from the Hendrick Motorsports camp. It was pretty intense for the Florida native to hang onto his lead as Larson was mounting a late charge. But the HMS driver could not make a pass and Hamlin perfectly executed his defense in the final few laps. With three wins already under his belt, this just might be the season where the JGR driver conquers his final peak. But that definitely won’t happen without his able team’s support, which the #11 driver seems well aware of!

Hamlin credits his win to his team members and partners

At a racetrack like Dover, it is indeed hard to make a pass against a fast-running car. Both Hamlin and Larson arguably had the best rides for today’s race. But when it came to making the pit stops count, Hamlin’s pit were back on their A-game and managed to take the lead in the final stage which set him up for the win.

Ecstatic with his win, Hamlin credited the glory to his pit crew while also feeling, “All those guys on the wall right here were the ones that make it happen. So thank you to them, Chris Gabehart, the whole team, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, Shady Rays, Coca-Cola, and Jordan brand, great partnership with all. Man, I just love winning races.”

This win at the Monster Mile draw will level with Lee Petty on the all-time wins list, now ranked 12th. And while he was the man behind the wheel, the veteran feels like it’s his partners who put the work behind the scenes, and he just delivers on the track. “It’s just fantastic; I mean, I couldn’t hold Lee Petty’s helmet, but I’ve been blessed with a great race team. This whole FedEx team, Sports Clips, and everyone that supports this 11-car. They are the ones that make it happen. I’m the lucky one who gets to drive it.”

While Hamlin managed to create history with his winning run, Larson managed to further cement his first-place position in the points standings.

Here’s how the standings look after the Wurth 400 race at Dover

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Denny Hamlin, who was starting to drop position after a back-to-back #30 or worse finish, has managed to jump two positions. He finds himself fourth in the standings. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, with his runner-up finish, still finds himself at the top of the chart. Not only that, Hamlin’s JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr once again continued his consistent streak with a #3 finish. He is the only driver in the top 5 positions without a win.

Noah Gragson from SHR managed to put on a solid performance and finished inside the top 10. Another big surprise was Daniel Hemric, who’s now registered consecutive top 10 results for the first time in his Cup Series career. Meanwhile, drivers like Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, and William Byron couldn’t manage to finish the race, being involved in a big crash in the final stage.

After 11 races so far in the season, Hendrick Motorsports camp has five wins to its name. Whereas, Joe Gibbs Racing, in response, has bagged four. It’s worth noting that Kansas Speedway has been a good hunting ground for Hamlin and will look to draw level with their rivals in terms of five wins each next weekend.