Denny Hamlin Wins St. Louis, Tells NASCAR Fans To Get On His Bandwagon, or ‘Get Run Over By It’

Denny Hamlin moved one step closer toward his goal of making the NASCAR Cup Series Top 10 wins list with a playoff victory from pole at World Wide Technologies Raceway (WWTR) near St. Louis on Sunday.

The win locked him into the second round of the NASCAR Playoffs with one race to got at Bristol in the Round of 16.

It also put Hamlin at the top of the playoffs standings ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, who won last week at Darlington and finished second at WWTR.

Hamlin celebrated his win with an epic burnout down the front stretch, then was met with the usual mix of boos and cheers from the crowd.

“You all can boo me, but you can either get on the bandwagon, or you can get run over by it,” Hamlin told the fans during his post-race interview on USA.

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“You never know when it’s your last. This could be my last win. This could be the last time I’m talking to you with my driver’s suit on after a race,” he added during his post-race press conference. “We just never know. I try my best to enjoy the moment and do the best I can to rile up the fans any chance I get.”

The win was the 59th of Hamlin’s career, putting him just one away from tying the retired Kevin Harvick’s 60 for 10th on the all-time list. Kyle Busch is 9th with 63, while Dale Earnhardt is far ahead in 8th with 76th. It was also Toyota’s 200th in the Cup Series since Busch claimed its first in 2008.

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The 44-year-old Hamlin, who has the most wins of any NASCAR Cup Series driver without a championship, has said he’d like to end his career solidly in the top 10. He recently signed a new two-year deal with Joe Gibbs Racing that should see him get there, if he doesn’t do it this season.

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Playoff driver Josh Berry’s chances of making it to the next round took a big hit when he got spun into the wall and out of the race by Chase Elliott on lap 35 of the 240-lap event. The last place finish put him 45 points below the cutoff and in a must-win situation for the next race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Austin Dillon (-11), Shane Van Gisbergen (-15) and Alex Bowman (-35) are all also at risk of missing the next round.

Full Results:

   1. (1)  Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 240.

??????    2. (3)  Chase Briscoe (P), Toyota, 240.

??????    3. (19)  Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 240.

??????    4. (5)  Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 240.

??????    5. (13)  Joey Logano (P), Ford, 240.

??????    6. (20)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 240.

??????    7. (8)  Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 240.

??????    8. (14)  Bubba Wallace (P), Toyota, 240.

??????    9. (11)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 240.

??????    10. (21)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 240.

??????    11. (6)  William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 240.

??????    12. (2)  Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 240.

??????    13. (32)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 240.

??????    14. (28)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 240.

??????    15. (27)  Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 240.

??????    16. (7)  Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 240.

??????    17. (23)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 240.

??????    18. (15)  Austin Dillon (P), Chevrolet, 240.

??????    19. (9)  Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 240.

??????    20. (34)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 240.

??????    21. (16)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 240.

??????    22. (22)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 240.

??????    23. (17)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 240.

??????    24. (4)  Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 240.

??????    25. (18)  Shane Van Gisbergen # (P), Chevrolet, 240.

??????    26. (25)  Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 240.

??????    27. (29)  Cole Custer, Ford, 240.

??????    28. (31)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 240.

??????    29. (36)  Cody Ware, Ford, 240.

??????    30. (24)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 239.

??????    31. (33)  Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 239.

??????    32. (30)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 239.

??????    33. (10)  Zane Smith, Ford, 239.

??????    34. (35)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 207.

??????    35. (26)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 64.

??????    36. (12)  Josh Berry (P), Ford, Accident, 35.