TALLADEGA, ALA. — Denny Hamlin put himself in position to finally win in the playoffs by hanging at the back to avoid the carnage of the messiest and longest race in Talladega Superspeedway history.
His sweeping three-wide pass in triple overtime Sunday brought an end to the sloppiest race of the NASCAR Cup Series season. The Daytona 500 winner surged to the win coming out of the final turn — it was the 58th lead change of a race that went nearly 32 miles (12 laps) longer than scheduled.
Talladega was pocked with 13 caution flags, two more than the record, and nearly every title contender had some sort of damage.