Hamlin pulls away to win at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. - When Denny Hamlin posted his first career victory in his initial visit to Pocono Raceway three years ago, he credited the instant success to a video game tutorial. Six weeks later, Hamlin completed a 2006 season sweep on the challenging 2.5-mile triangular track and again attributed it to his mastery on the racing simulator.

Yesterday, Hamlin pulled away from the field late to win the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 and - upon returning to Victory Lane for a much more subdued celebration - promptly thanked the "angels" who had been aboard his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.

Three days after his 91-year-old grandmother, Thelma Clark, passed away in Tampa, Fla., Hamlin led a race-high 91 laps en route to his fifth career victory. The team's tire specialist, Patrick Mullen, lost his mother last month, adding to the emotion of the moment.

"We definitely had some angels with us today," Hamlin said as he wiped away tears. "I think only half of me was driving the car for most of the day. My grandmother was very supportive of me. She would say a prayer for me before every race, and even though she couldn't see or hear very much in recent weeks, she'd always sit about four inches from her big-screen TV to watch me race.

"I think today she's pretty proud."

Hamlin, who has finished sixth or better in six of his eight starts at Pocono, snapped a personal 50-race winless streak by seizing the lead from Clint Bowyer with 10 laps to go and then holding off a late charge by runner-up Juan Pablo Montoya by 0.869 seconds.

It was the best finish of the season for Montoya, whose No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet dominated last week's race in Indianapolis before getting derailed by a pit-road speeding penalty.

Hamlin moved up to fifth in the standings, while Montoya advanced two spots to eighth, and Kasey Kahne (fifth-place finish) took over seventh, enhancing their chances of making the Chase for the Sprint Cup with five races remaining in the regular season. Bowyer ended up third and climbed to 15th in points to remain in the title hunt, while Sam Hornish Jr. posted a career-best fourth-place finish in his 57th start.

Although there was an attendance drop-off of about 25,000 fans from Sunday's rainout, NASCAR officials were tickled that an estimated crowd of 80,000 returned under ideal race conditions to witness one of the season's most entertaining events.

Half of the day's 10 caution periods came over the final 57 laps, as drivers jockeyed for position by going four-wide on the front stretch and three-wide through the corners. Restarts added to the drama, including a late green flag that precipitated a six-car crash with 45 miles remaining.

Series leader Tony Stewart, who started at the rear of the field after wrecking his primary car during Saturday's practice, could not duplicate his worst-to-first run when he won here in June. Stewart was able to overcome an ill-handling backup Chevy to salvage a 10th-place finish and increase his points advantage to 197 over Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson led the day's first 22 laps, but his crew spent much of the afternoon tinkering under the hood of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy before he was able to rally from three laps down to finish 13th. The three-time reigning champion, who had expected to visit President Obama yesterday in Washington, has had his trip rescheduled to Aug. 19, according to a White House spokesman.

The Sprint Cup Series returns to the area Sept. 27 for the second race of the Chase at Dover International Speedway.