Hamlin wins first race of season, third at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. -- As it turned out, Denny Hamlin was right -- but not without a struggle, and not without a heavy heart.

Having said Friday that he expected to win the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin charged to the front from the sixth position with 13th laps left in Monday's rain-postponed race and ended a 50-race drought in the Sprint Cup Series.

Pocono

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
2.	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet
3.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
4.	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge
5.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
6.	Brian Vickers	Toyota
7.	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
8.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
9.	Kurt Busch	Dodge
10.	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet

• Results | Lap-by-Lap | Photos

Race Video

• Victory Lane: Hamlin
• Final Laps: Pocono
• Post-Race Reactions
• Troubles for Johnson
• Reutimann wrecks
• Gordon, Stremme flare

Race Rewind

• Watch condensed version

After beating Juan Montoya to the checkered flag by .869 seconds, Hamlin wept in Victory Lane, overcome with emotion in the aftermath of the recent deaths of his grandmother, Thelma Clark, and the mother of tire specialist Patrick Mullen at Joe Gibbs Racing.

"We've come close in a lot of races this year and come up short," said Hamlin, who led a race-high 91 laps. "Definitely had some angels with us [Monday]. Patrick's mom passed away a couple weeks ago and my grandmother a few days ago.

"I was definitely driving aggressive out there, trying to do everything I could to get a win for them. It's emotional. We had a dominant car with two heavy souls in our race car [Monday]. I said in my mind that I wasn't going to settle for anything less than a win. With every corner I went in, that was 120 percent."

With the strongest car in the field car at the 2.5-mile triangular track, Hamlin passed Clint Bowyer for the lead off Turn 1 on Lap 191 of 200 and stayed in front the rest of the way. Montoya slipped past Bowyer for the second spot on Lap 192.

Bowyer finished third. Sam Hornish Jr. was fourth for his best finish in a Cup car, and Kasey Kahne was fifth.

"Things haven't been going our way all year long so it feels good to have something swing our way," Bowyer said.

This was Hamlin's first victory since Martinsville in March 2008, and he strengthened his bid for a spot in the Chase for the championship.

"Denny was the car to beat all day," Kahne said.

Brian Vickers, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart completed the top 10.

Starting from the rear after going to a backup car -- the result of a wreck in Saturday's practice -- Stewart rallied to salvage his ninth consecutive top-10 finish but saw his string of top-fives end at five. Nevertheless, the Cup points leader expanded his lead in the standings to 197 over second-place Jimmie Johnson, who bounced back from a succession of problems and three laps down to finish 13th.

The second-place finish was a tonic for Montoya, who had a dominant run the previous week at Indianapolis squelched by a pit-road speeding penalty. Good fortune in the pits helped Montoya at Pocono, when Robby Gordon and David Stremme crashed off Turn 2 moments after Montoya and Hornish had made their final pit stops on Lap 165.

When the rest of the contenders stopped under caution on Lap 167, Montoya and Hornish stayed out, along with Bowyer and Scott Speed, who had pitted on Lap 158.

"Restarts made it interesting," Montoya said. "I told [the team], I think we have a car that can win the race. I think the biggest thing was where the 11 [Hamlin] was going to be. I thought I had a car fast enough to hold [off the] 11. I got hit in the last restart, and he passed me.

"I don't know. Ifs and buts out, my goal is making the Chase. That's the bigger picture. If I make the Chase, they won't remember this guy won the race, this one didn't. The 18 [16th-place finisher Kyle Busch] won three races this year. ... You know what I mean? They won't be talking that he won three races [if he doesn't make the Chase]."

Montoya went from 10th to eighth in the standings and in good shape to make the Chase for the first time.

Busch gained a position to 13th in the standings at the expense of David Reutimann, who ran 29th after a bump from Hamlin sent him spinning down the frontstretch on Lap 175. But Busch lost points in the standings and trails Greg Biffle [15th on Monday] by 101 points with five races left before the field for the Chase is set Sept. 12 at Richmond. Reutimann fell three spots to 16th.

Bowyer, who wasn't won in 47 races, moved up to 15th in the Chase standings.

"There wasn't a straight finger on my car," Bowyer said. "Once they caught me, they caught me."

Hamlin had a rare poor outing in the June race at Pocono because of a fuel pump problem that sent him to the garage after only two laps. He returned and finished 38th, but has been one of the hottest drivers in the past seven races.

Hamlin recorded four top-fives during that span and did all he could to move up the standings -- except win, until now.

"I feel like we're the best car other than the Hendrick cars," Hamlin said.

The Hendrick cars were mostly out of the picture over the final laps, leaving a pack of drivers who haven't contended for many checkered flags this year going for the win.

Montoya, Bowyer and Hornish are all winless, and Kahne has one victory. Fueled by emotion, Hamlin scrapped any ideas of a conservative approach for points and took off for the win. Hamlin couldn't keep his emotions in check.

"Every lap. Every single lap it comes out," Hamlin said. "When I got behind, it really started getting frustrating from my standpoint. I thought I was going to let it slip away with 50 to go."

Hamlin went from sixth to second on one lap after a strong restart late in the race to set himself up for the win. Three of his five career Cup victories have come at Pocono.

"This puts the confidence back in me that I can come back with 30 to go and win the race," Hamlin said.

• Press Pass: Denny Hamlin | Juan Montoya | Clint Bowyer

The Associated Press contributed to this report.