NASCAR at Talladega results: Denny Hamlin wins in thrilling three-wide overtime finish

Denny Hamlin held on through three overtimes and multiple late-lap wrecks Sunday to win the YellaWood 500 race at Talladega Superspeedway.

The 13th and final caution forced a two-lap shootout through the checkered flag in which Matt DiBenedetto’s team decided against refueling to retain track position late in the race. DiBenedetto was leading on the final lap, but contact between the leaders pulled the No. 21 car back, and Hamlin was able to surge to the front in a three-wide finish.

Hamlin said the win, his 44th in his career, was a result of “a lot of attrition.”

“We just played the strategy and the numbers game to run in the back until we were locked in,” Hamlin said. “Just things worked out. We finally got one back. This one was unexpected, to say the least.”

DiBenedetto crossed the finish line in second place, but NASCAR issued a penalty after the checkered flag, deeming that DiBenedetto forced William Byron below the yellow line. Erik Jones was moved to second officially, followed by Ty Dillon and Byron. DiBenedetto gave an emotional television interview after the race, saying that he had overcome many hurdles in the sport. A decision on his contract with his Wood Brothers Racing team for next year has not been announced, although the deadline for the team to inform him has passed.

“I don’t have many words...just a tough week and that’s at the top of the heartbreak list,” DiBenedetto tweeted after the race. “Our time will come. Thank you all so much for the support.”

Hamlin also drove below the line on the final lap, but NASCAR determined it was a move made to avoid a wreck rather than gain an positional advantage. The decision was “pretty clear-cut,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said.

DiBenedetto dropped to 21st in the scoring, while another late-leader, Chase Elliott, also was penalized with a 22nd-place finish for the same line penalty. NASCAR later reversed Elliott’s penalty, determining that he was forced below the double yellow line by Chris Buescher, who instead was issued the penalty.

The initial line-violation decisions were met with debate on social media, but Miller said he does not foresee the yellow-line rule changing.

“We certainly don’t need more wrecks than what we saw today,” Miller said. “Probably not.”

Drama was preceded by drama at the superspeedway. Before the final shootout, a late-lap caution extended the race into it double overtime when Cup Series rookie Tyler Reddick tapped the back of Kyle Busch, who was still racing a damaged Toyota car after being involved in multiple incidents. Busch wrecked to the outside wall, collecting teammate Martin Truex Jr., as well as Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano, and bringing out the red flag. Logano was in the lead at the time.

While those playoff drivers were above the cutoff in points prior to Sunday, Busch was nine points below the bubble and remains in jeopardy of missing the next round.

“Car was just real slow after all the damage obviously,” Busch said on NBCSN after exiting his No. 18 Toyota, adding that he guessed he “was right,” possibly referencing an earlier comment he made about missing the Round of 8.

Busch’s incident was one of many throughout the evening. From the first lap, a caution for an incident was called when Cup rookie Christopher Bell hit the wall. Over the course of the next 200 laps, more exits followed, including playoff drivers Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch.

Almirola wrecked from the front of the pack just before the first stage finished. He was tapped from behind as the pack raced close together, and Almirola slammed into the outside wall. The No. 10 driver needed the points, though, and now sits 48 points below the cutoff.

Bowyer and Kurt Busch were involved in the first of multiple “Big Ones,” in which Busch went airborne, before the race reached the end of Stage 2.

Meanwhile, Hamlin hung mid-pack for most of the race after leading the early laps from the pole. His crew chief, Chris Gabehart, said the plan was to ride around and wait it out as other wrecked in front of them. He said he trusted Hamlin to deliver when the driver followed his instincts.

“I hate to say it, but you have to play the game,” Hamlin said. “You have to get to the next round. To win the championship, you have to win the last race and you have to get to the last race. For us, we played the strategy to play the numbers to make sure we got locked in and then win the race.”

Hamlin will advance to the Round of 8 along with Kurt Busch, who won at Las Vegas last weekend.

Playoff driver points standings

Talladega race results

NASCAR 2020 playoff schedule

Round of 12

▪ 2:30 pm Sunday, Oct. 11: Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Round of 8

▪ 2:30 pm Sunday, Oct. 18: Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway

▪ 3:30 pm Sunday, Oct 25: Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

▪ 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 1: Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Championship 4

▪ 3 pm Sunday, Nov. 8: NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway