Denny Hamlin Gets 40th Career Victory, 3rd Of The Season

Since the NASCAR season returned on May 17, there might be no driver who has performed better than Denny Hamlin. Hamlin had won the Daytona 500 prior to the season being shut down. Since NASCAR has resumed its season, Hamlin has five top-5 finishes in eight races. Two of those top-5 finishes for Hamlin are wins, and the latter of those two wins came on Sunday at Homestead. 

Entering Sunday’s race, Hamlin entered in the first position and led 137 of the 267 laps and with the win, Hamlin earned his 40th career NASCAR victory. Those 40 wins makes Hamlin the twentieth driver in the history of the Cup series to win at least 40 races. In commenting on the victory, Hamlin kept his thoughts short and sweet. “This one was real special.”

Hamlin held off Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, who finished second and third respectively, to earn his third win of the year. This win pushes Hamlin to the top of the Cup series standings. 

Sunday’s race at Homestead caps off what was a roller coaster week for NASCAR as on June 8, Bubba Wallace called for the removal of Confederate flags at races given the current landscape of the United States. NASCAR responded on Wednesday banning Confederate flags, which was met with backlash including Ray Ciccarelli saying that he will be quitting NASCAR because of this ban. There were also three Cup series races from June 7 to Sunday’s race.