NASCAR at Kansas full results: 4 things we learned from Denny Hamlin’s victory

By Alex Andrejev

Updated July 24, 2020 9:58 AM

Denny Hamlin passed Kevin Harvick with 12 laps left in Thursday’s race at Kansas to put him in first place at the checkered flag and first in race wins this season. But Hamlin said he didn’t think his No. 11 Toyota Camry was the fastest car in the field.

“Today was kinda one of those days where I knew I didn’t have the best car,” Hamlin said after the race. “But I had to just kind of outfox some people in certain places and it just worked out to where we got that stretch run at the end where our car was fast and I was able to make the move.”

Brad Keselowski finished in second place and Martin Truex Jr. finished third. Keselowski noted that “clean air” at the end was the key to Hamlin defending the lead.

“Really came down to the last few restarts, who got the clean air, who pushed who,” Keselowski said. “Just couldn’t quite get in front of Denny. I was a little bit faster than he was once we were up to speed, but not anywhere as fast as he was getting up to speed.”

Hamlin won at Kansas Speedway for the second year in a row after running in the top-five for most of the night. He finished second and fourth, respectively, in the first two stages of the race, and remained in the conversation until he ran the top lane to pass Harvick following a late-lap restart.

“We got to the lead, but we just went dead sideways there after about four or five laps,” Harvick said on the NBCSN broadcast after the race.

Hamlin now leads Harvick by one win (5) as the battle for the top spot continues heading into playoffs. Seven races remain before the post-season.

“This race team is such a dream,” Hamlin said on his No. 11 radio after his fifth win of the season.

Everyone was talking about Tyler Reddick

Before Hamlin dominated the last laps, Tyler Reddick stood out. The No. 8 had speed Thursday, so much so that multiple drivers noted the car on their radio early in the race. Reddick raced into the top-10 from a 23rd-place start before the competition caution.

He then finished in sixth to close Stage 1, but wasn’t able to maintain his position through the Stage 2 finish nor the final flag. He finished in 13th, but the rookie Cup driver proved he has speed and can make passes; he’ll be one to watch as a driver who could potentially upset the playoffs with a race win over the next seven races.

JTG Daugherty Racing with another blow

The predicable win for Hamlin and promising night for Reddick was mirrored by another frustrating race for JTG Daugherty. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a fire in his cockpit, then Preece took a hard, head-first hit into the barrier. It was a rough night for the team’s drivers.

“For us, we were both in that same wreck on pit road at Indy and then we were both in the wreck on the front straightaway at Texas,” Stenhouse said leading up to Thursday’s race. “So it’s pretty frustrating, but our speed is where we want it to be, and I’m looking forward to building on that speed at Kansas.”

Neither car finished the race Thursday. The night was over for Stenhouse before the first stage was. His fire forced him to pit road and out of the car. He said what was likely an electrical fire started next to his right side, then moved under the dash near his foot. He said the fuel pressure went out, his dashboard screen went black and he headed to pit road.

“Bummer of a day for sure,” Stenhouse Jr. said on the NBCSN broadcast.

Preece was still in the running until he was caught up in a mid-pack wreck off a restart in the final stage. His Camaro was pushed from the outside by Christopher Bell, and he slammed nose-first into the inside wall. A frustrated Preece called out on his radio, “Fantastic,” and was able to climb out of his damaged car quickly given how hard the hit looked.

“I’m all right, just ready for this year to turn around,” Preece said on the broadcast, mentioning that he thought they had a top-10 car at the end of the race.

Kansas no better for Johnson, DiBenedetto

Like JTG, playoff bubble drivers Jimmie Johnson and Matt DiBenedetto — neither of whom have secured a race win this season — were finished before the race was over. Both were involved in a major wreck off a final stage restart. The field ran three-wide midpack, and when Joey Logano’s left front tire went down, they were caught up in the fallout. Austin Dillon moved low into Johnson and DiBenedetto spun out.

The No. 21’s damage forced DiBenedetto to exit, and Johnson’s No. 48 car trudged along in the following laps but was unable to make minimum speed and he also ended the evening without finishing.

But still solid for Hendrick

Johnson’s Hendrick teammate William Byron, however, had better luck. Byron’s No. 24 car narrowly escaped the bumping and banging during the wreck that took out Johnson and DiBenedetto. Another caution was called for a Ryan Newman spin with 73 laps left, and Byron stayed out while others changed tires and refueled to take the lead on the restart.

He wouldn’t have been able to make it on fuel, but a caution for Corey LaJoie’s smoking car came out with 33 laps left and Byron was able to get to pit road, take two tires and shake Keselowski. Who Byron had to worry about, though, was teammate Alex Bowman, who passed him on the next restart for the lead.

By the final 20 laps, a recurring narrative panned out when Hendrick cars fell to points leaders Harvick and Hamlin. Harvick, in third, weaved his way through Byron and Bowman into first place, making a strategic pass between the two. Hamlin rode Harvick’s tail to second place and passed him on the top lane him shortly after. Harvick fell back, and Keselowski and Truex swooped in for the top-three spots. Bowman finished in eighth and Byron 10th.

Hamlin said his passes in the final laps were all about strategy, timing and positioning.

“I’m winning more with my mind now than I am with my talent,” Hamlin said. “I just feel like I have to be smarter. I have to really be strategic with my moves. I have to really put a lot of effort into thinking about putting myself in the right situation.”