NASCAR: Denny Hamlin wins at Texas despite two penalties

Denny Hamlin overcame two pit road penalties and managed to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the seventh race of regular season of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. For the driver of the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, it’s his 33rd Cup Series victory in a career and second win this year, following his triumph at Daytona 500.

During the 334-lap race at the 1.5-mile track, Hamlin led three times for 45 laps, defeating Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing) at the finish line by 2.743 seconds.

Denny Hamlin celebrates his 33rd Cup Series win

Daniel Suarez (Stewart-Haas Racing), Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing) and polesitter Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports) rounded out the top five. William Byron, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.

Joey Logano (Team Penske) won the first stage, but had experienced issues with his hood flapping, pitted before pit road was open for service, and ultimately dropped to 22nd, one lap down. Kyle Busch led the race-high 66 laps.

Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings. He has an eight-point advantage over Denny Hamlin. During the NASCAR weekend at Texas, Kyle Busch increased his total of national series wins to 203 by winning both Xfinity Series race and Truck Series race.