Hamlin felt for teammate Kenseth after snatching Daytona 500

PICTURE PERFECT: For a race that has occasionally been plagued by rain, Sunday’s 58th running of the Daytona 500 took place under ideal conditions.

After his media responsibilities ended on Sunday, Hamlin had dinner with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team then partied into the wee hours of the morning at Razzle’s – a local nightclub.

Hamlin went to the lead but had to battle Truex door-to-door to the line.

With a victory in the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Hamlin finally delivered. “Once (Hamlin) did it, I swore I thought about doing it and didn’t do it. Then it was too late – that was it. This is obviously the biggest win for myself”.

Hamlin scored the victory in thrilling fashion by edging fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr.at the finish line in the closest finish in Daytona 500 history. At one point, 4 of the top-6 cars were JGR cars, with a fifth being the #78 vehicle of Martin Truex Jr., who basically runs a Gibbs auto. Kenseth, who fell back after the attempted block of Hamlin, finished 14th. Kept lunging more and more forward. I’ve been so close over my career, yeah, I just feel like I’ve knocked on the door and knocked on the door.

Trucks driver okay: Christopher Bell was released from a hospital around 1 a.m. Saturday, shortly after a harrowing wreck on the last lap of Friday’s truck series race. “We had a plan before the race and really controlled the entire race”. But now I also know what to think about when the bad days come around.

“I saw (Harvick) coming and I knew if I didn’t block him that he would go right around me”, Hamlin said of his last-lap move. We had an excellent pusher during the race. “This is the biggest win of my life”. It was the first Daytona 500 win for Toyota. Maybe it was just me, but I felt the excitement of this years race, something I haven’t felt in years.

“Eventually you got to just kick the thing in”.

DiBenedetto later added: “I have no excuse”.

When Hamlin knocked Kenseth out of position, Truex, who had been pushing Kenseth, was at the head of the inside racing lane. “I assumed we won when that happened”, Hamlin said.

“Two years ago I would have been sitting here with a sourpuss on my face”, said Truex, who was inches behind when Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag. “I lost it in the last second”.

“We gotta do a little more drafting I think there the next time we come back and be ready for the balance and the things they threw at us today”. But Denny has been considered the favorite to win The Great American Race on multiple occasions and knows that he ultimately cost himself a handful of them.

It was a crowning moment for the Speedway, which enjoyed its first sellout since 2008 and a week of “Bill France weather”. You can not pump fake someone for a Daytona 500 victory.

Early end: For 19 laps, Chase Elliott did everything that was expected of a 20-year-old son of a Hall of Famer making his Daytona 500 debut from the pole as the replacement for a legend.

Behind Elliott on the grid was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who used a power-move pass to win the first Can-Am Duel on Thursday.

Team owner Rick Hendrick has won the season-opening race eight times – Johnson and Earnhardt went back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.

Oddly, both spun off Turn 4 and smacked the inside retaining wall before coming to rest in the tri-oval grass near the entrance to pit road. There were six caution flags for 31 laps, but the end-of-race demolition derby did not occur.

“Congrats to Denny”, Truex said.

Kenseth tried to stay with the lead pack but wound up 14th after the final-lap scramble.