Denny Hamlin won NASCAR’s first Wednesday race since 1984 when rain stopped the event with 20 laps remaining at Darlington Raceway.
The Daytona 500 winner was out front but out of fresh tires and trying to hang on when he got unintended help from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. The reigning Cup champion caused Chase Elliott to crash eight laps earlier to bring out the caution.
A furious Elliott waited for Busch on the apron of the track and flipped Busch the middle finger as he passed. As NASCAR cleaned the track, it started to rain, and the cars were called to pit road under red flag.
It was an already active evening at “The Track Too Tough To Tame,” as drivers were racing against the field and the weather. As the drivers sat in their cars waiting for NASCAR to pull the plug, a handful of Elliott’s crew members sat on the pit wall staring down Busch.
One of Busch’s crew members sat between them on the wall, and NASCAR eventually ordered everyone back over the wall. Eight minutes later, the race was called, and Busch was greeted by Alan Gustafson, Elliott’s crew chief and Busch’s former crew chief when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports, for a conversation between two masked competitors.
Busch immediately copped to the error.
“There’s no question I made a mistake and just misjudged the gap,” Busch said. “They’re upset. They’re mad. I’m not just going to fix it and we’re going to go have ice cream tomorrow. They’re going to dwell on it, and I’m sure there are repercussions of it I’m going to have down the road.”
It was a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Hamlin has won three times at Darlington and has two wins this season.
“I got my happy face on. Made sure I brought it with me,” Hamlin said of his mask. He said he also had a mask made with a “sad face” but brought only the smiling mask to the track he counts among his favorites.
Hamlin thought he was in good shape when he made his last pit stop, but a caution by Clint Bowyer, who won the first two stages of the race, jumbled the strategy with 34 laps remaining.
Hamlin had no choice but to stay out on the track, and his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, told him over the radio, “You ain’t going to like it, but we’re going to have to eat our vegetables here.”
Hamlin, the leader because he didn’t pit on the restart with 29 to go, had to hold off traffic for only one lap before the Busch and Elliott collision. Then the rain came, and Hamlin earned the trophy.
“It’s a driver’s racetrack,” he said. “You can do different things to make [the car] handle. We got it right.”
The race marked the first time in NASCAR history that the Cup Series had two points-paying races at the same track in one week.