NASCAR results 2016: Full finishing order for Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen

Were it not for a gaffe on the final lap, Denny Hamlin would have won his first road course two months ago at Sonoma Raceway. But Hamlin overdrove entering the last corner and opened the door for Tony Stewart to snap a three-year winless streak.

On Sunday, Hamlin committed no missteps. He passed Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski with 10 laps remaining, then kept that position despite a frenzied ending that included a multi-car wreck that set up a restart with four laps left to win the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International, a seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course.

Hamlin’s first road course victory occurred in his 22nd combined start at Watkins Glen and Sonoma. He now owns 28 wins overall, across all four styles of tracks that make up the 36-race Sprint Cup schedule.

“It means a lot,” Hamlin said. “I can’t tell you how disappointed I was we didn’t win (Sonoma in June).”

Adding to the accomplishment Hamlin raced Sunday with back pain so great he wasn’t sure he would be able to drive. He awoke with the pain and required treatment prior to the start. The 35-year-old has battled numerous injuries throughout his career, including multiple knee surgeries and severe neck spasms that necessitated he remove himself from the car midway through an event last year at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I just woke up with back spasms this morning,” Hamlin said. “Just hits me every three or four months or so; I just wake up and can’t move. Really doubted being in the race car today to be honest with you.”

Joey Logano finished second, Brad Keselowski third, AJ Allmendinger fourth and Stewart fifth.

Included in the eventful finish were a pair of separate last-lap spins involving Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. Truex was running second to Hamlin when Keselowski tapped Truex causing him to loop around exiting Turn 7. That incident caused Allmendinger to clip Larson, who then crashed hard into an inside guardrail.

Both Keselowski and Allmendinger apologized for their involvement, taking full responsibility. Although Truex largely shrugged off the contact as a byproduct of hard racing -- aided by the fact he’s already qualified for NASCAR’s playoffs -- Larson was less forgiving.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver is winless on the year and either needs to win one of the four remaining regular season races or earn a wildcard via points. But by crashing on Sunday, Larson lost 25 points and is on the bubble of not qualifying.

“(Allmendinger) is always aggressive -- I figured he would be smart,” Larson said. “Obviously, (Truex) was spinning in front of us. That is a free spot for both of us and [he] just dumped me.

“He has ran me hard, but we always race pretty well, but today was flat out stupid.”

Eight cautions -- including two red flags -- slowed the race. A 13-minute red flag stoppage occurred when Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Greg Biffle crashed on the backstretch portion of the track. The cars of Johnson and Stenhouse sustained significant damage. All drivers involved were uninjured.

“The cars started checking up in front of me and they all moved out of the way and (Stenhouse) was sitting there, stopped,” Johnson said. “I remember seeing a door number and I was so thankful it was the passenger-side door and not the driver-side door because I plowed him. I really hit the car hard. I was afraid that I might have injured him.”

The Sprint Cup Series is off a week before returning Aug. 20 for the annual summer night race at Bristol.

Cheez-It 355 full finishing order