Denny Hamlin in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on a throwback maneuver executed by Dale Earnhardt at Darlington Raceway when he made a crossover move on Joey Logano to win the race in stunning fashion.
In overtime after a restart on Lap 147 of 148 one lap beyond the scheduled distance the two drivers battled it out right to the checkered flag when Hamlin crossed the finish line just ahead of the No. 22 racing car. When Logano took the inside position on the final lap and surged ahead into Turn 3, Hamlin’s response was terrific when he made his crossover move and retook the lead off Turn 4 and pulled off the victory just 0.185 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
Kevin Harvick who took the pole position finished third on Saturday. He led 54 laps and was second to Logano who held the lead for 58 laps. Harvick also won Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the race in good style. He had a terrible restart on Lap 142, after the eighth yellow caution when Dakota Armstrong spun out in Turn 2, which moved Harvick back to fifth place for the final green flag.
Erik Jones finished in fourth, William Bryon in fifth, followed by Brennan Poole, Ty Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Austin Dillon tenth.
Elliott Sadler the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings leader finished in 33rd place reduced his lead in the points standings, however, William Byron remains 91 points behind in second place.
The top five points leaders are Elliott Sadler with 858, William Byron 767, Justin Allgaier 739, Brennan Poole 674 and Daniel Hemric 654.
Overall, Hamlin’s victory completed a solid week of racing to this point as he has achieved good career success on this track. With this exciting win Hamlin picked up his fifth NASCAR XFINITY Series victory at Darlington Raceway.
Next week the NASCAR XFINITY Series moves on to Richmond Raceway for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 on Friday night September 8th at 7:30 PM eastern time. All the racing action can be monitored on NBCSN, MRN radio and streaming on NBC Sports.
