Denny Hamlin wins opening Daytona race for 3rd time

Vickers got loose on lap 23 of the exhibition Sprint Unlimited, triggering a six-car wreck that included Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer.

Jimmie Johnson, front right, and Brad Keselowski, front left, lead the start of the Sprint Unlimited auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Denny Hamlin’s victory in the Unlimited Saturday night was JGR’s fourth victory in the preseason non-points event in the past five years.

Tonight is the first race of the season for NASCAR Sprint Cup teams, the invitational Sprint Unlimited.

“I wanted to get to the (overtime) line, because we probably didn’t have enough fuel to go five more laps”, said Hamlin.

“I had a little contact”, Vickers said, smiling. Instead of running laps to determine where each driver will start, crew chiefs simply draw a starting spot. That’s why restrictor-plate races at Daytona and Talladega are among the most watched each season. “It’s all about learning for what to do and/or what you need for the last few laps of the Daytona 500”.

While it seems like the 2015 season just ended with Busch’s ascension to the top of the Sprint Cup won, the 2016 season has arrived.

All four JGR cars worked well together Saturday night, which Hamlin noted is a good sign of things to come this season.

“We’re heading into the Sprint Unlimited with the mindset that we’re going to win”, said Austin Dillon.

Brian Vickers, in his first race since March after being sidelined for the fourth time because of the recurrence of blood clots or related surgeries, crashed and tore up the front and rear of his auto as he was subbing for the injured Tony Stewart. In that time, the race has generally given teams a good idea of what racing will look like come Thursday’s qualification races and the 500 next Sunday, but more often than not, that gained knowledge comes at the cost of attrition rates heavy by even Daytona standards. “I had a great Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion, and we kept working our way up from the back, and it was hard for us to get that lead”.

Vickers was officially announced as Stewart’s fill-in for the Daytona 500 on Friday, stepping into Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 14 Chevrolet while the three-time NASCAR champion recovers from a fractured vertebra.

The wreck happened on Lap 73 of a scheduled 75 laps and created a green-white-checkered finish scenario that had to utilize the new “overtime line” rule that NASCAR just introduced. However, once the leaders had passed that line there was a six-car wreck in turn 1 triggered by Hamlin’s team mate Matt Kenseth which forced the race to finish under caution. Jamie McMurray was the only other driver who led any laps in the race (14).

“I don’t know if it’s a non-points race that plays into it or if it’s just superspeedway racing”, Logano said.

“I learned that I had a lot of luck”. “Hopefully I didn’t use up all my luck before next Sunday”.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., always a favorite at Daytona and victor of July’s race here, was involved in an early accident and finished four laps down.

“Typical. Everybody is excited to get in the cars and be competing in a race, so they are really aggressive”, he said.

The first race doesn’t count for anything, except bragging rights and momentum headed into Speedweeks.