Denny Hamlin wins First Race of the Chase at Chicago Land Speedway

Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Hamlin wins at Chicago: #11-Denny Hamlin won the myAFibRisk.com 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway for his 2nd win of the season, 1st win at Chicago and 26th career win. After starting 29th, the lowest of any Chase competitor, Hamlin spun on lap 2, and lost a lap, and restarted the race in 43rd. He eventually got his lap back and worked his way through the field. The team stayed on track during the final caution and he took the lead with 4 laps to go. He led just 9 of the 267 laps.
With the win, Hamlin automatically advances to the next round of the Chase.
#19-Edwards finished 2nd followed by #41-Busch, #31-Newman, #20-Kenseth, #22-Logano, #42-Larson, #2-Keselowski, #18-Busch, and #43-Almirola.
Polesitter #4-Harvick finished 42nd. He cut a tire down and spun into the wall after contact with #48 Johnson on a restart midway though the race. He had to go to the garage for repairs for more than 50 laps.
#20-Kenseth now leads the Chase points standings, 2 points over Hamlin.
There were 17 lead changes among 10 drivers. There were 6 cautions for 28 yellow flag laps.
The average speed was 140.117mph.

2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Standings: [after Chicago, race 27 of 36]
1) #20-Matt Kenseth[4 wins], 2052, +24 ahead of 13th
2) #11-Denny Hamlin[2 wins], 2050, +22 Will advance to Contender round
3) #19-Carl Edwards[2 wins], 2049, +21
4) #18-Kyle Busch[4 wins], 2049, +21
5) #41-Kurt Busch[2 wins], 2048, +20
6) #22-Joey Logano [3 wins], 2048, +20
7) #48-Jimmie Johnson[4 wins], 2045, +17
8) #31-Ryan Newman, 2040, +12
9) #2-Brad Keselowski[1 win], 2039, +11
10) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.[2 wins], 2038,X +10
11) #78-Martin Truex Jr.[1 win], 2035, +7
12) #24-Jeff Gordon, 2031, +3 ahead of 13th
Bottom 4 drivers will be eliminated from the Chase after Dover:
13) #1-Jamie McMurray, 2028, 3 points out of 12th
14) #27-Paul Menard, 2027, -4
15) #15-Clint Bowyer, 2025, -6
16) #4-Kevin Harvick [2 wins], 2009, -22