As they neared the line, side drafting and bumping each other, Hamlin narrowly edged Truex Jr.by a matter of inches. Hamlin then won a head-to-head duel with Martin Truex Jr.
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It also was Toyota’s first Daytona 500 victory. NASCAR granted Busch a waiver and said if he could win a race and make it into the top 30 in the driver standings, he could make the Chase. It was the closest finish for the driver who also led the most laps for the day at 95. Hamlin’s teammates Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards both finished in the top 5, with Busch in third and Edwards, in a damaged vehicle, fifth. But this wouldnt be possible if it wasnt for Toyotas sticking together all race long. It was Hamlins first Daytona 500 victory and first for Toyota. “I’d say it’s the exact same feeling and it’s the people that get to go with you when you do something like that”, Gibbs said Monday morning.
He had taken only two tires in a previous pit stop and “just didn’t have the overall grip I was hoping for”.
“I don’t know what happened”, Hamlin told the New York Times Sunday. “We had a plan before the race and really controlled the entire race”. This is a total team effort from Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, Martin Truex and those guys – all of our cars up front at the end.
“I don’t know how I’m going to hit the track at Atlanta on Friday”, Hamlin said, adding he jokingly asked NASCAR if the flight to NY could be rerouted to give him a chance to sleep. All the Toyota drivers – including Truex Jr. – wanted to be the guy to win one for the coach and his son J.D. Gibbs. “He just shot out that last couple of inches on me on the right before the line”.
“I’ve been so close over my career, yeah, I just feel like I’ve knocked on the door and knocked on the door”.
That changed in history fashion on Sunday to produce a finish the famed start/finish line never saw before. If I had been rubbing him up the track a little earlier on, I think we would have been OK. As they came around the final corner, Hamlin wasn’t sure how the final few feet were going to play out.
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“It’s hard to make those decisions”. “The greatest advice I’ve gotten is that the schedule’s tough but to live in the moment; that this will live with you forever, so enjoy the week”. “I think the only thing I should have done different was (to have) been a little more aggressive coming to the line holding Denny up the racetrack”. First time I’ve ever been in that spot. “The safer play would have been to finish second, but we’re here to try to win the Daytona 500”. As Hamlin charged to the front, they made contact and Kenseth got shuffled to the outside, brushing the wall.
