Sprint Unlimited 2016 results: Denny Hamlin wins exhibition opener at Daytona

Denny Hamlin avoided the drama at Daytona International Speedway to secure victory at the season-opening NASCAR Sprint Unlimited race on Saturday. And Denny Hamlin passed the test for the third time, winning Saturday night’s race ahead of Joey Logano.

He won the Sprint Unlimited by leading the final 16 laps, cruising to the finish line when the caution flag came out on the second lap of a green-white-checkered restart that served as NASCAR’s first experiment with its new overtime procedure.

Afterward, he thanked rookie crew chief Mike Wheeler, who took a gamble on fuel mileage earlier in the race.

NASCAR begins its 2016 season at its most famous race track in Daytona, as a prelude to next week’s Daytona 500. It was a significant finish for Blaney, who is one of several drivers needing to race their way into the Daytona 500. “I’m so happy for Mike Wheeler (crew chief) – he’s 1-for-1 with a good win here at Daytona”, Hamlin said.

“I think my spotter said it best when he said it looked like there was a lot of construction debris out there”, Keselowski said, referencing the recently completed $400 million Daytona Rising project.

“Everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing has just put in so much into this effort, and it’s such an honor to get in this auto”, Vickers said.

Motor Racing Network – “The Voice of NASCAR” – will have live coverage of the Sprint Unlimited from Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) – with live streaming at MRN.com and on the MRN App. The race will be split into two segments with a competition caution at Lap 25 separating the segments. “I hate that I’m in this vehicle because it means Tony Stewart, a dear friend and someone I have so much respect for, is sitting at home”. Five of the twelve left within reach of the leaders on the final restart would wreck before turn three on the race’s final lap, and all but the top four were involved with a caution in one way or another. It wasn’t anyone’s fault we just cut a tire.

Officials got to trot out the “Here’s how we’re going to handle it, boys” and no doubt they were pleased when a late-race yellow set up a green, white, checkered finish, which eventually went green, white, yellow and checkered. “It seems like the runs are so slow that you can’t get a big enough run of the guy to make a pass because they can block you too soon”. However, a crash towards of the end of the race allowed the new NASCAR overtime rules to be seen.

Six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had a tough night of his own, spinning through the grass on lap 48 which saw his night come to an early end.

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

Larson considered himself lucky to be among the finishers. “Hopefully I didn’t use up all my luck before next Sunday”.

“Typical. Everybody is excited to get in the cars and be competing in a race, so they are really aggressive”, he said. There is nothing on the line. If you quit, you don’t feel good.