DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Most of the time, when an athlete talks about a "team victory," it’s nothing more than a sports cliché.
But Denny Hamlin’s win in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway—by the closest margin in the history of the Great American Race—was a testament to the strength and solidarity of the Toyota teams of Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing, a JGR affiliate.
In a wild last lap at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Hamlin moved into the outside lane in front of Kevin Harvick, who had gained momentum up top. Avoiding a block from JGR teammate Matt Kenseth in Turn 4, Hamlin dove to the inside and won a drag race to the finish line against Furniture Row’s Martin Truex Jr.
Leading the inside lane after Kenseth abandoned it to try to block Hamlin’s progress, Truex nosed …show more content…
"I don’t remember it—honestly," Hamlin said. "I just remember pulling up in front of the 4 (Harvick, who finished fourth) and him giving me a push and not letting off when he was pushing, and ultimately that was the push to the victory for us. I know we got to the outside of the 18 (Kyle Busch), the 78 (Truex) ... and then the 20 (Kenseth) came up to block high, and I saw that the middle was going to be the only way I could get around both of them.
"We cleared the 20 and drag-raced with the 78. This is a total team effort from Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, Martin Truex and those guys – all of our cars up front at the end. I said with two (laps) to go that we have to get the team victory no matter what it takes, and I essentially was trying to go up there and block the 4 to keep him from getting to those guys, but he gave me such a strong push I just went with it and we ended up with a victory."
Up until the last two feet, Truex thought he had the race
But Denny Hamlin’s win in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway—by the closest margin in the history of the Great American Race—was a testament to the strength and solidarity of the Toyota teams of Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing, a JGR affiliate.
In a wild last lap at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Hamlin moved into the outside lane in front of Kevin Harvick, who had gained momentum up top. Avoiding a block from JGR teammate Matt Kenseth in Turn 4, Hamlin dove to the inside and won a drag race to the finish line against Furniture Row’s Martin Truex Jr.
Leading the inside lane after Kenseth abandoned it to try to block Hamlin’s progress, Truex nosed …show more content…
"I don’t remember it—honestly," Hamlin said. "I just remember pulling up in front of the 4 (Harvick, who finished fourth) and him giving me a push and not letting off when he was pushing, and ultimately that was the push to the victory for us. I know we got to the outside of the 18 (Kyle Busch), the 78 (Truex) ... and then the 20 (Kenseth) came up to block high, and I saw that the middle was going to be the only way I could get around both of them.
"We cleared the 20 and drag-raced with the 78. This is a total team effort from Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, Martin Truex and those guys – all of our cars up front at the end. I said with two (laps) to go that we have to get the team victory no matter what it takes, and I essentially was trying to go up there and block the 4 to keep him from getting to those guys, but he gave me such a strong push I just went with it and we ended up with a victory."
Up until the last two feet, Truex thought he had the race