Hamlin cruises to MIS victory

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/18/2007 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denny Hamlin pulled away from the field after the last round of pit stops and never looked back to capture Saturday afternoon's Carfax 250 Busch Series race at the Michigan International Speedway. The No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet driver crossed the finish line 6.998 seconds ahead of Matt Kenseth.

The victory was Hamlin's second of the season and fourth of his Busch career.

After winning his first Busch pole since 2004, Greg Biffle led the field to the green flag for 125 laps of high-speed racing.

The No.16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver was unsuccessful in holding off a charging Brian Vickers, who took the inside lane, on the first lap.

Vickers was still in the first when the initial caution flag of the race came out on lap seven. David Reutimann, who was second in the drivers standings, came down pit road during the caution period to fix a left-front fender problem.

On lap 11 Vickers led Biffle, Hamlin, Kenseth and Kevin Harvick to the restart. Kenseth used a great restart to make his way to the front. On lap 16 Kenseth ducked under Vickers for the lead.

The points leader, Carl Edwards, experienced some trouble when he spun out on lap 24 to bring out the caution flag. Edwards then received a penalty for entering pit road to early, which left him at the back of the field.

Vickers, who retook the top spot just before the caution came out, led the leaders down pit lane for their first pit stops of the afternoon under the caution period. Hamlin won the race off pit road followed by Biffle, Harvick, Kenseth and Vickers.

The race got back underway on lap 28, but four laps later, Tony Stewart brought out the caution flag. Vickers had to stop during the caution because his crew failed to completely fill his fuel tank on his last pit stop.

Kenseth led Hamlin, Biffle, Harvick and Mark Martin to the restart on lap 36. Kenseth held onto the lead, but Hamlin followed close behind.

Kenseth and Hamlin traded the first position back-and-forth a number of times. Kenseth finally won the battle and started to pull away on lap 58. Biffle, Harvick and Paul Menard battled behind these two drivers.

The No.17 Roush Ford driver had almost a one-second margin on Hamlin. That gap was quickly cut into as Kenseth approached lap traffic. And on lap 68 Hamlin took the outside lane to pass Kenseth.

Hamlin was still showing the way as the last round of pit stops approached for the leaders.

The leader came down pit road on lap 77 for his last stop. The rest of the leaders took their last stops during the next few laps. Kenseth had a slow stop which hurt his chance of winning.

When the cycle of green flag stops was complete, Hamlin led Kenseth, Harvick, Biffle and Martin. But the No.20 JGR Chevrolet driver held over a two-second lead as the field spread out.

With 25 laps left the margin for Hamlin was 2.453 seconds. As the lead continued to increase it was obvious it would take a caution flag for someone to have a chance of beating Hamlin.

The remaining laps had very little excitement. There were no more caution flags allowing Hamlin to cross the finish line unchallenged.

Harvick, Jeff Burton and Biffle completed the top-five.

Harvick's third-place finish vaulted him into second place overall, 700 points behind leader Edwards, who finished 28th.

The next race in the series is set for Friday, August 24th at the Bristol Motor Speedway.