Hamlin Fends off Hill, Nemechek for Xfinity Win at Darlington

(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Denny Hamlin made his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start in two seasons on Saturday.

It didn’t take him long to get reacclimated.

The 50-time Cup Series winner led 14 laps and prevailed after a series of late restarts to win the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.

“I’m just proud to do this for Gordon Logan (CEO and founder of Sports Clips) and everyone at Sports Clips,” Hamlin said after the race. “He’s been such a supporter of my career for such a long time. Thank you to Sport Clips and Help a Hero. Appreciate everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for the opportunity to come and do one Xfinity race per year and it’s great to have a win.”

With significant differences between the Next Gen Cup car and the Xfinity car, it admittedly took Hamlin time to get reacclimated. He put the No. 19 Toyota Supra on the outside pole of teammate John Hunter Nemechek in qualifying and remained there throughout Stage 1.

Hamlin finished fourth in Stage 2 and got to the lead for the first time on Lap 120 while battling Austin Hill. He finally got past the regular-season points leader on Lap 124, but the caution came out a few laps later for Ryan Sieg.

The leaders headed for pit road, and as Hill’s team had done all afternoon, the No. 21 squad rocketed off a lightning pitstop to put themselves in the lead.

But shortly after the restart, Sam Mayer got into Parker Kligerman and spun the No. 48 around, causing a caution and shuffling up the playoff picture. Kligerman went from 20 points above the cutline to one point below it after Riley Herbst finished sixth to jump back into the top 12.

Hamlin had one more shot to get Hill and hold off Nemechek in NASCAR Overtime and succeeded. Hill spun his tires, an issue he battled all race, and Hamlin went to the point from the top lane to notch his sixth career Xfinity win at Darlington.

(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

“These cars just drive so different than the Next Gen does,” Hamlin said. “Really, I just maintained my pace and kept them within shouting distance and then pounced when I really needed to.

“It took a while [to find a rhythm]. I really needed some long runs, but I really didn’t want to show everything we had until the very end of the race there. We really did a good job of maintaining what we had and man, it was going to be cool to see that race play out, but still, it was a great win.

“I don’t know how else to explain it than I feel like you can manipulate the car to do the things you really need it to if it’s not perfect. And, a driver, when he feels like he can make a difference, you like the race track.”

Hill finished second and earned 49 points, five fewer than Nemechek, who finished third. Still, Hill maintains a 23-point advantage over Nemechek ahead of the regular-season finale at Kansas Speedway.

“I’m just frustrated with myself,” Nemechek said. “I didn’t make the right adjustment the last stop and it’s on me. I said I didn’t need an adjustment and probably did. It sucks coming up short here twice with such fast Toyota GR Supras both times. We’ll keep plugging. Solid points day for us. Gained some points back on the 21 (Austin Hill), I think that puts us back to second in points as well. Go to Kansas next week to finish out the regular season and hope to go win all three stages instead of two.”

(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Cole Custer jumped two spots on the final restart and finished fourth. Josh Berry bounced back to finish fifth and battling severe handling issues early in the race.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. John Hunter Nemechek
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Larson
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Cole Custer
6. Austin Hill
7. Daniel Hemric
8. Kyle Busch
9. Chandler Smith
10. Riley Herbst

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. John Hunter Nemechek
2. Austin Hill
3. Kyle Larson
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Cole Custer
7. Chandler Smith
8. Parker Retzlaff
9. Riley Herbst
10. Daniel Hemric

Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 Result

Playoff Standings (One Race Remaining in Regular Season)