NASCAR / denny hamlin

By Zane Miller First round (8) #10 Aric Almirola v. (1) #4 Kevin Harvick (7) #12 Ryan Blaney v. (2) #11 Denny Hamlin (6) #9 Chase Elliott v. (3) #2 Brad Keselowski (5) #22 Joey Logano v. (4) #19 Martin Truex Jr. The postseason kicked off at Richmond Raceway, as fans within Virginia’s capital city saw Brad Keselowski earn his second race victory at the track after leading nearly half of the event’s 400 laps. Chase Elliott had a solid fifth-place run, but was ultimately unable to take advantage. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick nabbed the seventh spot, holding off teammate Aric Almirola by one position. The battle between Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin started with Hamlin getting the early lead, finishing one lap down in 12th while Blaney was two laps down in 19th. The Martin Truex Jr.-Joey Logano series also had a similar start to the one with Almirola and Harvick, as Truex Jr. held off Logano by just one spot from the second position. Bristol Motor Speedway made its return to the postseason for the first time since 1975, which was just fine with Harvick as he conquered the concrete track after leading 226 laps. Almirola had a strong run as well, finishing fifth, though this did not compare to Harvick’s race win. Almirola would be the only elimination happening at Bristol, as the others who found themselves behind after the opening race all bounced back. For starters, Keselowski lost power steering after starting from the pole and leading 82 laps early, leaving him with a disappointing 34th-place finish as Elliott captured the seventh spot. Both Hamlin and Truex Jr. struggled in 21st and 24th respectively, while the Team Penske duo of Blaney and Logano each claimed respectable finishing positions just outside of the top-10 to stay alive. The majority of the first round series were still in play at Las Vegas, which made its postseason debut, but Hamlin would be the first to take care of business at the Nevada tri-oval. He led a race-high 121 laps on the way to a third-place run, with Blaney’s playoffs coming to an end in seventh. Also taking a top-five finish was Truex Jr., as he grabbed the fourth spot with Logano well behind in 14th. Keselowski took the checkered flag just ahead of Logano in 13th, but this was enough to advance with Elliott finishing a disappointing 22nd after losing several spots on a late restart. Semifinal (4) #19 Martin Truex Jr. v. (1) #4 Kevin Harvick (3) #2 Brad Keselowski v. (2) #11 Denny Hamlin At Talladega Superspeedway, Hamlin kept his hot streak going, leading 26 laps on the way to his second career race win at the Alabama track. Keselowski was caught up in the Big One in overtime, causing him to finish 18th. Coincidentally, both Harvick and Truex Jr. were a part of the same accident as Keselowski, but Truex got the worst of it as he lost two laps due to repairs. Harvick’s 20th-place finish was just enough to take the early lead once again as Truex was credited with 23rd. As the four drivers took on the Charlotte roval, Keselowski found himself with a substandard 18th-place finish despite leading a handful of laps at the start of the event. Hamlin did not set the world on fire either, but his adequate 15th-place run enabled him to reach the championship finals for the first time since 2010. Kansas Speedway would be the ultimate decider of who would challenge Hamlin for the title, in addition to being an appropriate setting as both Harvick and Truex had won there multiple times in their Cup Series careers. Both started inside the top-five, but Harvick began to pull away from Truex by the conclusion of stage two. Harvick eventually got into the race lead and led 85 laps before settling into second, while Truex barely held onto a top-10. Truex ended up in ninth, while Harvick’s runner-up spot gave him a shot at back-to-back titles. Final (2) #11 Denny Hamlin v. (1) #4 Kevin Harvick The opening race of the 2020 finals was notable for less-than-ideal reasons, as the majority of the race was postponed from Sunday to the following Wednesday due to heavy rainstorms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. When racing finally resumed, it didn’t take long for Harvick’s day to go south as he bounced his Ford off the outside wall shortly after the Wednesday afternoon resumption. He never really recovered and finished a lap down in 16th, as Hamlin claimed a solid ninth-place result. Believe it or not, Harvick would have an even stranger race at Martinsville, though it actually looked quite promising until the final lap. When the white flag waved, Harvick was comfortably ahead of Hamlin, battling for eighth with Kyle Busch while his competitor was mired in 12th. However, on the final turn, Harvick inexplicably drove into Busch’s quarter panel, spinning both the #18 and himself around on the frontstretch. While Busch continued without losing any spots, Harvick crashed to a halt just short of the start-finish line, allowing Hamlin to pass by, fittingly enough, in the 11th spot to claim his first career Cup Series championship after 15 years of waiting. Denny Hamlin’s stats for 2020 included seven victories, 18 top-fives and 21 top-10s, taking fourth in the final standings to real-life champion Chase Elliott. 2020 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/2020-nascar-cup-series-season-recap