Denny Hamlin won’t be forgetting this Richmond win in a hurry. Not only was this his first win of the season, a win that could turn around the season for him, but also, he won in front of his home crowd. Yet there’s something else that makes this win even more impressive and special. And that is the way in which it came.

With 36 laps to go, Denny Hamlin was running in eighth place while also being a lap down, with William Byron leading the race. However, despite this, it was the No.11 that ended up winning the race.

In his post-race interview, Hamlin spoke about hunting down the young Byron for the win.

“I told him, I never even saw him,” Hamlin said. “Once he kinda pulled away from me a little bit in that second to last run, I didn’t see him from that point forward till eight to go.”

“Once I kinda, looked at the gap from, had that I gained from eight to go to six to go, I was like, ‘We’re gonna catch’em’. I was a little worried with the lapped cars that were trying to stay on the lap and get the lap back,” he continued.

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“Overall, I knew I was racing the (No.) 4 for the most part and it was just a matter of time on the (No.) 24.”

Denny Hamlin glad to “turn the ship around” after winning in Richmond

With the exception of Richmond, that would’ve come off as a massive relief for Denny Hamlin and his team, the rest of his season prior to the most recent race, was a big disappointment. But now that he has the much-awaited first win of the season, Hamlin is glad.

“I’m glad we’re able to turn the ship around, at least for a week. And then next week, we’re going to see if…you’re really starting to build some momentum going forward,” he said.

Having said that, Denny Hamlin insists he isn’t looking “too far ahead.”

“I certainly want to celebrate this one, but it sure is a positive sign considering how we ran as an organization, but you never know,” the race winner said.