NASCAR Cup Series: Denny Hamlin wins 2019 Daytona 500

Denny Hamlin opened up the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season by winning the 61st annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin ended a 47-race win drought and opened up the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season by winning the 61st annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Hamlin’s victory in this wreck-filled race makes him a two-time Daytona 500 winner, as he also won the 2016 Daytona 500 by the closest margin of victory in race history over now teammate Martin Truex Jr.

After starting the 207-lap race, which was scheduled to be 200-lap race but was extended by overtime as a result of several late caution flag periods, around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona International Speedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida in 10th place, Hamlin won it by 0.138 seconds over teammate Kyle Busch who finished in second in his #18 Toyota.

By finishing in third place in his #20 Toyota, Erik Jones secured a 1-2-3 sweep for Toyota and for Joe Gibbs Racing.

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Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell rounded out the top five by finishing in fourth and fifth place in their #22 Ford and #34 Ford, respectively, making them the race’s highest finishing Ford drivers. Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon was the race’s highest finishing Chevrolet driver. He finished in sixth in his #13 Chevrolet.

Chevrolet drivers rounded out the top 11 as well. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, JTG Daugherty Racing rookie Ryan Preece, Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, Premium Motorsports’ Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman finished in seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th place in their #42 Chevrolet, #47 Chevrolet, #48 Chevrolet, #15 Chevrolet and #88 Chevrolet, respectively.

The race featured a total of 15 lead changes among nine drivers. Aside of Hamlin, who led 30 laps, eight drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Busch, Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., race polesitter William Byron, Jamie McMurray, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Hemric. DiBenedetto led more laps than anybody else in the field with 49 laps led in his #95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota.

The race also featured a total of 12 caution flag periods for 47 laps. Of these 12 caution flag periods, 10 took place as a result of on-track incidents while the other two took place as a result of the endings of stages one and two.

Of the 40 drivers who started the race, 19 finished it, and of the 19 who finished it, 14 finished it on the lead lap. All but three drivers were involved in some kind of wreck throughout the race. The three drivers who weren’t were Hamlin, Busch and Chastain.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Denny Hamlin
2nd – Kyle Busch
3rd – Erik Jones
4th – Joey Logano
5th – Michael McDowell
6th – Ty Dillon
7th – Kyle Larson
8th – Ryan Preece
9th – Jimmie Johnson
10th – Ross Chastain
11th – Alex Bowman
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14th – Ryan Newman
15th – Parker Kligerman
16th – Austin Dillon
17th – Chase Elliott
18th – Corey LaJoie
19th – B.J. McLeod
20th – Clint Bowyer
21st – William Byron
22nd – Jamie McMurray
23rd – Brendan Gaughan
24th – Landon Cassill
25th – Kurt Busch
26th – Kevin Harvick
27th – Tyler Reddick
28th – Matt DiBenedetto
29th – Paul Menard
30th – David Ragan
31st – Ryan Blaney
32nd – Aric Almirola
33rd – Daniel Suarez
34th – Daniel Hemric
35th – Martin Truex Jr.
36th – Matt Tifft
37th – Chris Buescher
38th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
39th – Cody Ware
40th – Casey Mears

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The next race on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 24. This race is set to be broadcast live from Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Fox, so be sure not to miss it.

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