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At his maiden Stafford Speedway, Denny Hamlin won the season-opening Camping World SRX Series race that was shortened due to bad weather. Around halfway through the eventual 58-lap feature, Hamlin was able to overtake Marco Andretti, the current series champion.
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Denny Hamlin fought back leading Clint Bowyer for the entirety of the race's second half. This was before Ryan Newman, driving a backup car, moved into second place during a restart.
The conflict between the two NASCAR Cup Series racers was expected to continue up until the storms started rolling into the vicinity at an alarming rate and lightning started flashing in the distance in the final laps of the race. But due to a potential thunderstorm warning, a caution was thrown out and the race had to end prematurely.
Ahead of the race, Denny Hamlin sat down and talked to the media about his first experience at the Superstar Racing Experience at Stafford. He said:
"We got a few laps of practice, most of it was just me trying to figure out the four corners of the track and where I'm supposed to be. It's a very fun track. Nah I've never been here before. Most of the laps has just been practice."
As the race was cut short, Newman came in second. In the last moments of the main event, Clint Bowyer would drop to third, while Paul Tracy and Hailie Deegan would complete out the top five finishers. Tony Kanaan, Ken Schrader, Bobby Labonte, Brad Keselowski, and Marco Andretti rounded off the top 10.
Denny Hamlin gets a new sponsor for his NASCAR Cup Series run
Mavis Tires & Brakes has joined Joe Gibbs Racing as a new sponsor for Denny Hamlin for five Cup Series events. Mavis Tires & Brakes will be on Hamlin's Cup car at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 16. Mavis will return to Pocono Raceway on July 23 after New Hampshire and again on July 30 at Richmond Raceway, August 6 at Michigan International Speedway, and August 20 at Watkins Glen International.
Hamlin has one victory this year at Kansas Speedway, five top-five finishes, and seven top-10 finishes, which have moved him up to sixth position in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings.
