At Richmond, Denny Hamlin Wins Own Charity Race For First Time

It took him four tries, but Denny Hamlin is finally a winner in his own charity race.

Hamlin won the “Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown” on Thursday night at his personal playground, posting another win at Richmond International Raceway.

The Virginia native started in the rear of the field – as is the custom for a charity race host – and worked his way all the way up to the lead pack. But he never actually led the race until the final lap.

To pull off his victory, he needed some help from Lady Luck. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch looked set to win the race, but Busch ran out of fuel after taking the white flag (or had a fuel pickup issue, according to wife Samantha), and Hamlin bumped and passed him for the win.

Hamlin’s race was held at Richmond this year because its usual location – nearby Southside Speedway – is closed for the season due to the track owner’s health. It obviously didn’t hurt Hamlin, who has never won a race at Southside but is one of the top drivers in any type of car at Richmond.

It was a “good thing” Busch ran out of fuel, Hamlin said – because if he hadn’t, Hamlin would have bumped him and “made it ugly.”

“Trust me, if Kyle hadn’t run out of gas, I would have done everything possible to get around him in the last couple of corners,” Hamlin said. “The Short Track Showdown is about old-school racing. ... That’s why you see the race out there we had today.”

Michael Waltrip – who said he barely fit into his Late Model and was basically lying down while driving – finished second. Hendrick Motorsports development driver Chase Elliott – yep, the son of Awesome Bill – was third.

Joey Logano and Frank Deiny Jr. were next, followed by Busch, Scott Turlington, Burt Myers, Matt McCall and Kyle Grissom.

Other notables included Tony Stewart (24th), Aric Almirola (27th) and Bill Elliott (28th).