LOUDON, N.H. — Denny Hamlin led for much of the third stage during Sunday’s Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and he remained there until the checkered flag flew.
Hamlin cometed through the field in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race using his backup No. 11 after a crash during practice Friday damaged his main car. He had to hold off a late race charge from Kyle Larson, though, which made the race come down to the wire.
Larson charged from the back of the field after his pole position was disallowed, but wasn’t able to get past Hamlin in the closing laps.
“We executed nicely, made no mistakes, you know, and capitalized when other guys faltered a little bit,” Hamlin said. “Just everything right to win the race.”
The victory was Hamlin’s third at New Hampshire and his 14th top-10 finish at the 1.058-mile speedway.
Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
Truex maintained his edge over Larson in the standings and now holds a 38-point lead over Larson heading into next weekend’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Thumbnail photo via Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports Images
