Denny Hamlin wins in closest Daytona 500 finish

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Denny Hamlin announced his arrival in the media center in a big way after Sunday's Daytona 500.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had just won the Great American Race, and upon crossing the threshold and while headed up to the podium for his postrace news conference, he let out a loud exclamation.

'Wooooo! How about that [expletive deleted]?'

He beat Martin Truex Jr. to the line by 0.010 seconds, the closest margin of victory in the history of the Daytona 500. It was Hamlin's 27th career victory, but by far the biggest and most important.

'It's the pinnacle of my career, for sure. I haven't got a championship yet. This is obviously the biggest win for myself,' Hamlin said. 'I've won my fair share of races in the time I've been doing this, but I hadn't won any big races. I won the Southern 500. That was the biggest win of my career as far as stature is concerned (until now). I hadn't won a championship. I hadn't won the 500. I hadn't won the Brickyard 400 or the Coke 600.

'I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as my career is concerned, but I'm in the darkness. I can't see back and I can't see forward. I feel like I'm right in the middle. I want to get some of these accomplishments done because ultimately you're defined by the big moments.'

It was a big moment, indeed.

Hamlin was in front for most of the afternoon, leading 95 of the 200 laps at Daytona International Speedway. But on the last pit stop of the race, a mistake by Hamlin during the pit stop process took him from the lead to seventh. Teammate Matt Kenseth, who has two Daytona 500 wins to his credit, came out with the lead.

As the final lap took shape, Hamlin came from several rows back in the high lane, ducked into the middle past a blocking Kenseth, and won a drag race to the line with Truex for the win.

He wasn't even sure he won.

'I didn't know we had won. I knew it was close. I saw the pylon change and blink at the last second for the 11. I heard on the radio people were all crazy, excited. I assumed we won when that happened,' Hamlin said. 'If not, I was going to be (upset). You cannot pump fake someone for a Daytona 500 victory. That would have been bad.'

It was the first Daytona 500 win for Joe Gibbs Racing since Dale Jarrett beat Dale Earnhardt to the line in 1993.

Fellow JGR driver Kyle Busch finished third behind Hamlin and Truex. Kevin Harvick was fourth and another JGR driver Carl Edwards was fifth. Kenseth, who fell back after the attempted block of Hamlin, finished 14th. Race favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 35th after an accident in the middle of the race.

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