Denny Hamlin wins Unlimited in first test of new extra lap rules
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – NASCAR’s modified green-white-checker finish got its first practical application in the season’s opening race.
OK, the Sprint Unlimited isn’t officially the first race of the NASCAR season. But the exhibition race serves as a test for many drivers and teams for the Daytona 500. And Denny Hamlin passed the test for the third time, winning Saturday night’s race ahead of Joey Logano.
[Related: Quick takeaways from the Sprint Unlimited]
Hamlin was leading down the backstretch on the race’s final lap when a multi-car accident happened in turns 1 and 2. NASCAR waited to throw the caution flag to see if the wreck would clear. As Hamlin maintained his lead, the caution was out before what remained of the field made it to turn three.
The race went four laps over after a multi-car crash on the backstretch that started when Casey Mears bumped Brad Keselowski who bumped Carl Edwards on the backstretch. Thursday, NASCAR said that any overtime attempts would be governed by an “overtime line” on the backstretch.
If drivers passed the line in the middle of the backstretch on the first lap of a green-white-checker restart, the race would immediately be over when the caution flies. Since the crash happened on the second lap of the green-white-checker restart (the white flag lap), the overtime line was inconsequential.
Had the crash started on the previous lap, however, NASCAR would have likely called the caution before Hamlin had hit the line. Had that happened, the restart would not have counted as an official “attempt” and another green-white-checker would be tried.
Got all that? If you don’t, there’s nothing to be worried about. We’re going to keep explaining it throughout the season and it’s inevitable the line will come into play at some point in the season. Probably in a Chase elimination race.
The race was a wreckfest that started when Brian Vickers collected a bunch of cars after his car lost a tire. There were three multi-car accidents (and multiple tire-related issues) as drivers were aggressively making moves. Without points on the line, there was no incentive to worry about a good finish.
By our unofficial count, only four (Hamlin, Logano, third-place finisher Paul Menard and fourth-place Kyle Larson) of the race’s 25 participants weren’t involved in a crash.
While the win was Hamlin’s third (and could have been his fourth; he lost a race after he made an illegal below-the-yellow-line pass for the win) in the Daytona 500 precursor, it’s also Joe Gibbs Racing’s fourth win in the past five races.
Matt Kenseth won the race in 2015, Hamlin won in 2014 and Kyle Busch won in 2012.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
