By Jim Utter, The Charlotte Observer –
BRISTOL, Tenn. — It was a blast of Bristol past.
With cars running a line on the track unseen since the early 1990s thanks to a track surface change, Saturday night’s Irwin Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway featured two cars wrecking battling for the lead, a helmet toss and win for a driver who had been stumbling of late toward the Chase.
Denny Hamlin easily held off Jimmie Johnson for the victory, his third Sprint Cup Series win of the year.
With two races until the Chase starts, Hamlin would now share the top seed in the Chase with Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart.
Jeff Gordon finished third, Brian Vickers was fourth and Marcos Ambrose was fifth.
Logano took early command of the race, pass Casey Mears, who started on the pole, on Lap 27 and leading 123 of the first 192 laps.
Juan Pablo Montoya got into Ryan Newman to start a wreck on Lap 192 which also collected Jeff Burton. On the restart on Lap 200, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took over the lead followed by Hamlin and Montoya.
Hamlin passed Earnhardt on Lap 206 to take the lead.
On Lap 225, Aric Almirola and David Gilliland wrecked to bring out the sixth caution of the race. On the restart on Lap 231, Greg Biffle took over the lead.
Brad Keselowski, who won the last two Bristol races, got spun by Bobby Labonte on Lap 270 to bring out the seventh caution. On the restart on Lap 277, Johnson took over the lead.
Kurt Busch, Regan Smith and Dave Blaney were involved in an accident on Lap 322 to bring out the eighth caution of the race. On the restart on Lap 329, Matt Kenseth took over the race lead.
On Lap 333, Stewart and Kenseth were racing for the lead when both wrecked. Logano took over the lead on the restart on Lap 340.
Blaney, already involved in one accident, wrecked on Lap 347 in Turn 1 to bring ou the 10th caution of the race. Biffle took over the lead on the restart on Lap 353 followed by Kevin Harvick and Hamlin.
Martin Truex Jr. passed Biffle on Lap 364 to move into the lead for the first time in the race. He maintained a solid advantage for more than 50 laps before Hamlin passed him for the lead on Lap 409.
Mears wrecked on Lap 414 to bring out the 11th caution of the race. Carl Edwards moved into the lead on the restart on Lap 423.
A caution for debris bunched the field again on Lap 424. Edwards remained in the lead on the restart followed by Vickers, Marcos Ambrose, Johnson and Logano.
Danica Patrick, who was running 19th at the time, got tangled in wreck with Smith on Lap 435 to bring out the 13th caution. On the restart on Lap 444, Edwards remained the leader followed by Vickers and Johnson.
With less than 40 laps remaining, Hamlin worked hard to get around Edwards and retake the lead.
