CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — This was the one race Denny Hamlin has been dreaming about.
Hamlin finally got the win he has coveted for the last 17 years, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in overtime Sunday night to win the longest — and perhaps wildest — Coca-Cola 600 in history.
Hamlin won for the 48th time in the Cup Series, and for the time in a points race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“It is so special. That is the last big one that is not on my resume," said Hamlin, who has won the Daytona 500 and the Southern 500 three times each and the All-Star Race. "We weren’t very good all day, but got ourselves in the right place at the right time.”
Car owner Joe Gibbs said he knew this was an important win for Hamlin.
“With Denny to race that hard and that long and to be here and know how important this race is right here in our backyard, this is just a huge deal,” Gibbs said.
NASCAR’s longest and most grueling race lasted more than five hours and took 619 miles to complete. There were 18 caution flags and 16 drivers failed to finish. The race featured a 12-car wreck and a magnificent crash that sent Chris Buescher's car flipping over five times before stopping upside down.
“This is the wildest and craziest 600 that has ever happened,” TV analyst Clint Bowyer said at one point on the Fox Sports broadcast.
Defending race champion Kyle Larson had struggled with adversity all night, incurring two pit penalties, a fire in his pit stall and on the back of his car and a spin out. Yet he found himself with a golden chance to win when he took the lead with 46 laps left.
But with two laps left, Chase Briscoe tried to pass Larson and crashed, bringing out the yellow caution flag and sending the race to overtime.
Larson had the
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