Cup Series star Denny Hamlin seemed poised for a dominant victory at Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Darlington after winning both opening stages, but excellent late-race defense from leader Ross Chastain led to a thrilling finish in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200.
After the final restart, Hamlin caught Chastain with just under 20 laps to go and had the faster car, but couldn’t get around Chastain’s No. 10. As Chastain and Hamlin battled cleanly for the win, third-place driver Brandon Jones closed in – and then watched as the two leaders drove into the outside wall on the penultimate lap.
Hamlin dove into the corner underneath Chastain and tried to ease up the track in front of him, but carried too much speed into the turn and couldn’t avoid hitting the wall. Chastain, meanwhile also hit the wall just before Hamlin did, and couldn’t turn his car underneath Hamlin to get past. Chastain ran into the back of Hamlin and managed to prevent a spin, while Jones was in the perfect spot to drive underneath the chaos and coast to his third win of the season.
FINISH OF THE YEAR!@DennyHamlin and @RossChastain wreck coming to the white flag, and @BrandonJonesRac WINS at @TooToughToTame! #NASCARThrowback #XfinitySeries pic.twitter.com/6J9ZlSGpDv
— #NASCARPlayoffs on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 5, 2020
