NASCAR: Denny Hamlin holds off Chase Elliott for Homestead win

Denny Hamlin held off Chase Elliott to take his series-leading third victory of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin became the first driver to win three races through the first 12 races of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season by holding off Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott to win the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the location where he saw a championship get away from him last November.

Elliott led the race over Hamlin after overtaking him by pitting for tires one lap sooner than he did during the final round of pit stops. Hamlin was able to reel Elliott in and pass the #9 Chevrolet with 30 of 267 laps remaining, but Elliott did not go away.

In the closing laps, Elliott had trimmed the lead down to roughly two tenths of a second, but contact with the wall in turns three and four of the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Homestead, Florida caused him to lose his momentum and allowed Hamlin’s #11 Toyota to scoot away with a 0.895-second victory.

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Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney finished in third place in his #12 Ford ahead of Richard Childress Racing rookie Tyler Reddick in fourth in his #8 Chevrolet. The top four drivers finished both of the first two stages in the top four as well, and Hamlin became the first driver to win the first two stages of a race and the race itself this season.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola finished in a season-high fifth place in his #10 Ford. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch finished in sixth in his #18 Toyota ahead of Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon in seventh in his #3 Chevrolet.

This race is the first race to feature two Richard Childress Racing drivers in the top 10 since the July race at Daytona International Speedway in 2018 when Ryan Newman finished in eighth place and Dillon finished in ninth.

Leavine Family Racing rookie Christopher Bell finished in a career-high eighth place in his #95 Toyota. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10 by finishing in ninth and 10th in their #24 Chevrolet and #2 Ford, respectively.

This race featured 18 lead changes among seven drivers. Aside of Hamlin, who led a race-high 137 laps, the other lap leaders were Elliott, Blaney, Reddick, Busch, Keselowski and Team Penske’s Joey Logano.

The race featured six caution flag periods, including two which led to lengthy red flags due to lightning. Two of the other four caution flag periods took place to end the first two stages while the other two took place due to on-track incidents, although one was slated to take place anyway as a competition caution.

Only one of the 38 drivers who competed in the race failed to finish it, with that lone driver being Rick Ware Racing’s J.J. Yeley after 211 laps. Of the 37 drivers who finished the race, 15 finished on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Denny Hamlin
2nd – Chase Elliott
3rd – Ryan Blaney
4th – Tyler Reddick
5th – Aric Almirola
6th – Kyle Busch
7th – Austin Dillon
8th – Christopher Bell
9th – William Byron
10th – Brad Keselowski
11th – Clint Bowyer
12th – Martin Truex Jr.
13th – Bubba Wallace
14th – Matt DiBenedetto
15th – Michael McDowell
16th – Jimmie Johnson
17th – Kurt Busch
18th – Alex Bowman
19th – John Hunter Nemechek
20th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21st – Erik Jones
22nd – Cole Custer
23rd – Chris Buescher
24th – Ryan Preece
25th – Matt Kenseth
26th – Kevin Harvick
27th – Joey Logano
28th – Ty Dillon
29th – Corey LaJoie
30th – Ryan Newman
31st – Daniel Suarez
32nd – Brennan Poole
33rd – Quin Houff
34th – Timmy Hill
35th – B.J. McLeod
36th – Joey Gase
37th – Josh Bilicki
38th – J.J. Yeley

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The next race on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the GEICO 500, which is scheduled to take place next Sunday, June 21. This race is set to be broadcast live from Talladega Superspeedway on Fox beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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