In winning his first race of the season, his fifth at the .526-mile short track and the 25th of his career, Hamlin took the lead for good on Lap 473 of 500, passing teammate Matt Kenseth for the top spot. Two laps later, Keselowski surged past Kenseth and tracked down Hamlin, setting up a breathtaking battle in the closing laps.
Keselowski could have won his second straight Sprint Cup race by wrecking Hamlin, but the 2012 premier series champion opted not to win the race with his bumper.
"Hats off to Brad--he had an option, and he took the latter (not to wreck the No. 11)," said Hamlin, who broke a 31-race Toyota winless streak dating back to his victory at Talladega last May. "So thank him for that…
"We had some good short-track racing those last few laps."
Keselowski tried everything in the closing laps short of knocking Hamlin’s car into the fence.
"I did everything I could, other than wreck him," said Keselowski, last week’s winner at Auto Club Speedway in California. "I hit him pretty good a couple of times. I don’t know what else I could have done other than drive through him."
Keselowski took his last shot off the final corner, bumping Hamlin’s car and turning it sideways. But Hamlin righted the car and drove to the finish line .186 seconds ahead of the race runner-up.
Hamlin, who recovered from a penalty for a runaway tire on Lap 166 and a resulting trip to the rear of the field, said the victory followed the longest competition meeting he’s experienced at Joe Gibbs Racing, one in which team owner Joe Gibbs pointedly addressed his teams.
"Joe doesn’t raise his voice very often, but he did this time," Hamlin said. "He told us to get off our tails and get to work."
Obviously, the effort paid off on Sunday.(NASCAR Media)
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