NASCAR Cup Series

Dollars for Denny: Hamlin claims Sprint All-Star Race and $1 million

Published May. 16, 2015 11:27 p.m. ET

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Jared Turner

Denny Hamlin captured Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, pulling away from Kevin Harvick on the final 10-lap money segment to claim a $1 million winner's purse and his first victory in the All-Star Race.

Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth completed the top five.

Starting from the pole, Hamlin led the opening 14 laps of Segment One before being overhauled by a charging Kasey Kahne coming down the backstretch. Despite not having the fastest car for most of the night, Hamlin's pit crew made a series of flawless pit stops to help keep him near the front and in contention for the win.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the final race off pit road -- after entering the pits in sixth -- and then got a terrific restart on the 10-lap dash to the checkered.

"That pit crew -- that's all I can say," an ecstatic Hamlin said in Victory Lane. "They carried me all day long and they got us this victory."

Restarting on the outside and in third behind Hamlin and Busch for the money segment, Harvick wasn't sure what to expect.

"It just depended on how everything shook out when they took off -- who spun the tires, who didn't spin the tires," the reigning Sprint Cup champion said. "Denny sped them up quite a bit, then slowed them down, then took off way early. Once the cars start going back and forth, it's really easy to get the tires spinning.

"On the outside lane, I spun the tires a little bit. I was in a pretty good spot. (Hamlin) just made a pretty good move down there. I committed to the center of the corner. He made a good move to slide up in the middle of the corner and got my car really tight."

After taking the lead from Hamlin in the opening segment, Kahne spent the rest of the 20-lap stanza out front and unchallenged, taking the checkered by a comfortable margin over Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

Greg Biffle, one of Friday night's Sprint Showdown winners, hit the wall twice in Segment One and struggled to be competitive the rest of the night.

Everyone came to pit road under caution between segments one and two, with Keselowski getting two tires to win the race off pit road and take the lead for the start of the second segment ahead of Earnhardt, Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano.

Keselowski's two-tire gamble paid off as the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion held off a staunch challenge from Kurt Busch -- who was on four fresh tires -- to claim Segment Two over Busch, Gordon, Kahne and Harvick.

On the ensuing pit stops between segments two and three, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Biffle were each penalized for being too fast on pit road, and all three were sent to the rear for the start of Segment Three. Aric Almirola, meanwhile, was penalized for having too many men over the wall.

Defending All-Star Race winner Jamie McMurray won the race off pit road with a two-tire strategy but got a bad restart and was hit from behind by Logano, who backed off to allow McMurray to gather his car back up and avoid spinning coming out of the dogleg.

The collision allowed Keselowski, who restarted on the outside of Row 1 for Segment Three, to sweep back into the lead.

Keselowski led the segment from flag to flag, holding off Harvick by .4 at the finish. Kurt Busch, Logano and Kahne completed the top five.

Kyle Busch, making his first Sprint Cup start of the season, made an scheduled pit stop on Lap 14 of Segment Three when he felt a vibration in the left rear of the No. 18 Toyota.

Busch fell to 19th among 20 cars and lost a lap, only to be the recipient of the free pass and get back on the lead lap for the start of Segment Four.

Danica Patrick, who qualified for the All-Star Race via the Sprint Fan Vote, wasn't so lucky. She pulled her No. 10 Chevrolet into the garage 10 laps into Segment Three after burning a left-front hub.

Kenseth and Hamlin both took two tires under the caution between segments three and four to win the race off pit road ahead of Keselowski, Harvick and Kurt Busch.

Tony Stewart and Biffle were both penalized for being too fast on pit road, while Earnhardt Jr. received a penalty for too many men over the pit wall.

Hamlin overhauled Kenseth right at the start of Segment Four but quickly surrendered the top spot to Kurt Busch, who went on to claim the segment over Harvick, Hamlin, Keselowski and Kahne.

With the order in which cars entered pit road between the fourth and final 10-lap segment for $1 million determined by the average finish from the first four segments, Keselowski led Kurt Busch, Kahne, Harvick, Gordon, Hamlin, Logano, Earnhardt, Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson down pit road.

Keselowski, who left pit road in second behind Hamlin, was penalized for being too fast, however, along with Carl Edwards.

Hamlin lined up first for the money segment, with Kurt Busch second, Harvick third, Kahne fourth and Gordon fifth.

Hamlin quickly moved ahead, however, and was never seriously challenged for the top spot as he took the checkered flag to deliver Toyota's first All-Star triumph.

So how does Hamlin plan to spend his hefty paycheck?

"I've got a little daughter at home that would like to go to college, so let's save that for the college fund," he said with a smile.

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