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Hamlin clinches title shot with win in Phoenix

By Field Level Media

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Twenty points below the cut line, Denny Hamlin wasn’t exactly boiling over with confidence when he arrived in Arizona to race in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs cutdown race at ISM Raceway.

He was talking about how 2019 would not be a failure were he not to advance to next weekend’s Championship 4 race in Homestead, Fla., and how finishing a career without a championship would not be a disgrace.

But on Sunday afternoon, Hamlin’s tone did a 180 as took the lead on Lap 178 of the 312-lap Bluegreen Vacations 500 and then survived a late-race restart to drive to his sixth victory of the season and second in 29 starts at the track formerly known as Phoenix International Raceway.

The victory for the two-time Daytona 500 winner came a week after an unforced spin at Texas Motor Speedway contributed to his points woes and negativity earlier in the weekend.

Hamlin joined Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick — who had previously won Round of 8 races at Martinsville Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, respectively — in the championship Round of 4.

Hamlin’s teammate, Kyle Busch, finished second and earned the fourth and final berth in next weekend’s championship-decider in South Florida by way of points.

The margin of victory was .377 seconds.

Rounding out the top five were Ryan Blaney of Team Penske, Kyle Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Harvick.

The race started with six drivers competing for the final two spots in the Championship 4 — Busch, Joey Logano, Hamlin, Blaney, Larson and Chase Elliott.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Logano, who started the race above the cutline and led 90 laps, faded in the final stage. He finished ninth and lost his shot at winning a second straight Cup championship.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott need to win in order to advance — he didn’t. He spun and rammed the wall on Lap 166. It was his second major wreck in the last two races as he popped the wall at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday. Too bad, too, because he had a fast car and was running third when he crashed.

“We had a decent NAPA Chevy today,” Elliott said.

“It was really tough in traffic to catch guys and then pass and whatnot. But, I feel like we were in a good position to run solid. I’m not sure why we had a tire go down. I think that’s what happened, at least; it seemed like it. It’s unfortunate. Like I said, these last three weeks (he suffered a mechanical failure two weeks ago at Martinsville) have been pretty rough.”

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