Nascar Race Today

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Denny Hamlin, winner of two races at Daytona that didn't count, finally has a points-paying victory at a restrictor-plate track.

Hamlin, who opened the season with a pair of wins in Daytona exhibition races only to finish second in the Daytona 500, was again sitting second in the closing laps Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. But he won a drag race with leader Kevin Harvick on a restart with two laps remaining, and was out front when NASCAR froze the field because of debris from an accident.

Hamlin became the eighth winner in 10 races this season as drivers jockey to grab the 16 spots available in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Here's the results from the Aaron's 499:

1. (34) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188 laps, 123.2 rating, 47 points. 2. (35) Greg Biffle, Ford, 188, 115.1, 44. 3. (27) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 188, 67.2, 41. 4. (18) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 188, 81.8, 41. 5. (3) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 188, 88.2, 39. 6. (2) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 188, 83.8, 39. 7. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 188, 107.6, 38. 8. (42) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 188, 87.7, 36. 9. (29) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 188, 94.8, 35. 10. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 188, 65.5, 34. 11. (41) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 188, 64.6, 0. 12. (19) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188, 103.4, 33. 13. (15) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188, 66.3, 31. 14. (4) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 188, 74.7, 31. 15. (5) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188, 79.4, 29. 16. (17) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 188, 55.2, 28. 17. (43) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 188, 85.2, 27. 18. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 188, 45.8, 27. 19. (26) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 188, 61, 26. 20. (36) Josh Wise, Ford, 188, 48.8, 24. 21. (31) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 188, 58.2, 23. 22. (7) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 188, 74.9, 23. 23. (20) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 188, 99.8, 22. 24. (37) Terry Labonte, Ford, 188, 38.7, 20. 25. (28) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 188, 43.9, 19. 26. (30) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 188, 69, 19. 27. (38) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 188, 53.4, 17. 28. (33) Alex Bowman, Toyota, accident, 187, 62.4, 16. 29. (32) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 187, 32.4, 15. 30. (10) Carl Edwards, Ford, accident, 182, 52, 15. 31. (24) Ryan Truex, Toyota, accident, 182, 62.5, 13. 32. (16) Joey Logano, Ford, accident, 174, 91.3, 13. 33. (9) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, accident, 174, 82.4, 11. 34. (22) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, accident, 174, 50.1, 11. 35. (39) David Ragan, Ford, accident, 174, 52.9, 10. 36. (14) Michael McDowell, Ford, accident, 174, 56.2, 9. 37. (21) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 171, 77.6, 8. 38. (13) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160, 32.6, 7. 39. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 156, 69.1, 6. 40. (40) David Gilliland, Ford, engine, 150, 60.6, 5. 41. (23) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 136, 77.6, 0. 42. (1) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, accident, 136, 60.3, 0. 43. (12) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, accident, 136, 44.2, 1. ___ Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 152.103 mph. Time of Race: 3 hours, 17 minutes, 16 seconds. Margin of Victory: Under Caution. Caution Flags: 8 for 31 laps. Lead Changes: 48 among 23 drivers.

Lap Leaders: P.Menard 1-5; D.Patrick 6-7; J.Gordon 8; D.Patrick 9-12; B.Keselowski 13; P.Menard 14; L.Cassill 15; P.Menard 16-19; M.Kenseth 20; J.Logano 21-31; D.Hamlin 32-34; C.Edwards 35-37; J.Logano 38; C.Edwards 39-40; J.Johnson 41; J.Logano 42-51; D.Gilliland 52; Ky.Busch 53; J.Logano 54-56; G.Biffle 57-58; J.Johnson 59; G.Biffle 60-94; C.Edwards 95; M.McDowell 96; G.Biffle 97-106; D.Ragan 107; C.Mears 108; D.Earnhardt Jr. 109-112; T.Bayne 113-118; D.Earnhardt Jr. 119-134; M.Ambrose 135-137; R.Sorenson 138; R.Newman 139; C.Mears 140-141; G.Biffle 142-145; D.Earnhardt Jr. 146-151; G.Biffle 152-158; B.Vickers 159-161; D.Hamlin 162; B.Vickers 163; D.Hamlin 164-165; B.Vickers 166-167; K.Harvick 168-180; D.Hamlin 181; K.Harvick 182; D.Hamlin 183-185; K.Harvick 186; D.Hamlin 187-188.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): G.Biffle, 5 times for 58 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3 times for 26 laps; J.Logano, 4 times for 25 laps; K.Harvick, 3 times for 15 laps; D.Hamlin, 6 times for 12 laps; P.Menard, 3 times for 10 laps; B.Vickers, 3 times for 6 laps; D.Patrick, 2 times for 6 laps; C.Edwards, 3 times for 6 laps; T.Bayne, 1 time for 6 laps; C.Mears, 2 times for 3 laps; M.Ambrose, 1 time for 3 laps; J.Johnson, 2 times for 2 laps; L.Cassill, 1 time for 1 lap; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Newman, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Sorenson, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Ragan, 1 time for 1 lap; M.McDowell, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Kenseth, 1 time for 1 lap; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Gordon, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Gilliland, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: K.Harvick, 2; J.Logano, 2; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1; C.Edwards, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; Bra.Keselowski, 1.

Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Gordon, 347; 2. M.Kenseth, 344; 3. Ky.Busch, 343; 4. D.Earnhardt Jr., 328; 5. C.Edwards, 328; 6. J.Logano, 305; 7. J.Johnson, 304; 8. G.Biffle, 300; 9. R.Newman, 299; 10. B.Vickers, 297; 11. Bra.Keselowski, 294; 12. D.Hamlin, 292.