2017 JGR Authentic Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Xfinity Throwback

Denny Hamlin won the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 with a last-lap pass of Joey Logano in Turn 4 in an overtime finish. Logano had passed Hamlin going into Turn 3 before Hamlin went back beneath Logano through Turn 4. It is Hamlin’s fifth Xfinity Series win at Darlington Raceway. All five have come from the pole. “Just a really good restart, got through Turns 1 and 2 really good,” Hamlin told NBCSN at the start-finish line. “Great run by the 22 (Logano) getting back to me on the last lap. I think that was a throwback to Dale Earnhardt there in (Turns) 3 and 4.” Hamlin led 33 laps. He took the lead on the overtime finish, pulling ahead of Logano. “We definitely didn’t have the best handling car the beginning of the race,” Hamlin told NBCSN in victory lane. “We got it better there at the end. I actually was hating it that that caution came out because I thought I could run down (Harvick). We made it a little more exciting.” The victory is the second of the year for Hamlin and the 17th of his Xfinity career. The race went 148 laps, one more than scheduled. Kevin Harvick had been leading in the closing laps until Dakoda Armstrong spun with 10 laps to go in the original distance. That set up pit stops where Harvick lost the lead to Logano, who led a race-high 58 laps. The overtime finish was set up by a crash involving Elliott Sadler on the ensuing restart. “It would have been more fun if the caution didn’t come out, that would have been more fun for me,” Logano told NBCSN. “Denny had a great restart, went through the gearbox and motored me down into Turn 1 and had position on me. … (On the last lap) was able to get underneath him off of Turn 2. He knew my play. I knew what his play was going to be as soon as the spotter yelled ‘clear.’ I thought ‘that’s way too early in the corner to be clear.’ ”