By Ryan - Posted on April 21, 2010
Denny Hamlin did not let a little rain get him down. He also did not allow his surgically repaired knee or hard-charging Jimmie Johnson keep him from victory lane either.
The Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, which had been delayed by rain on Sunday, was run on Monday morning. This marks the second win for Denny Hamlin this year, both of them rain-delayed and run on Monday.
He assumed the lead after a restart on Lap 323, overtaking Jeff Burton. Johnson was fifth at the restart, and surged forward to threaten Hamlin for the lead.
Both teams benefitted from a late-race wreck that involved many of the best cars. After the race, Tony Stewart acknowledged responsibility for the wreck that took out Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, and himself. The pile-up caused a 20-minute red flag.
Johnson blamed the delay for his inability to overtake Hamlin. “I think we sat too long and the front tire pressures dropped,” he said. “I lost a few spots. I almost hit the wall down in Turns 1 and 2, trying to work the top. Once those front tire pressures came in and the splitter got off the ground, I started coming, but it was like a lap too late.” Nonetheless, Johnson increased his points lead to 108 over Matt Kenseth, who finished 20th at Texas.
Hamlin was pleased at the outcome of the race. “This is not the type of race track people characterize us being strong at. They always say we’re a short-track team. We’re just going to keep getting better and working toward the Chase, and hopefully by the time we get there, we’ll peak.”
An interesting turn of events at Texas involved teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. When Gordon passed Johnson for second place on Lap 240, Johnson appeared to rub him on the right side. This led to some frustration on Gordon’s part, judging from the radio exchange with his crew chief.
Following Hamlin and Johnson to the checkered flag were Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, and Kasey Kahne. Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., and Greg Biffle rounded out the top ten.
The win moved Denny Hamlin from 18th to 11th in points.
