Denny Hamlin recovered from a first-lap spin to win the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase race of 2015 at Chicagoland.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Hamlin found himself in trouble at the start as he tagged AJ Allmendinger and quickly fell a lap behind as he visited the pits.
But following an inspired call to stay out and regain that lap during a mid-race caution, Hamlin found himself third behind Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon into the final 10 laps, after electing to stay out during a late pace car period.
Having previously stopped for tyres three laps and five laps later than Gordon and Busch respectively, Hamlin made full use of his relative advantage and shot past the pair on the restart with five laps to go to claim his second win of the season.
The win also guarantees Hamlin a place in the second round of the Chase.
Team-mate Carl Edwards ran out of time to catch Hamlin after he moved into second with three laps to go.
Erstwhile leader Busch hung on for third on older rubber than most of those around him.
Ryan Newman rarely troubled the front of the field, but raced to fourth in the final laps having also stopped for tyres, just ahead of Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano.
In a sign of just how competitive the 2015 Chase field is, Kyle Larson was the best placed of those not in contention in seventh, while Brad Keselowski was eighth ahead of long-time leader Kyle Busch.
Polesitter Kevin Harvick had looked competitive in the opening half of the race but finished the day 58 laps down in 42nd after suffering a tyre blowout as a result of contact with Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson was forced to try an overtake on Harvick after receiving a push from Logano on a mid-race restart, but instead went into the side of Harvick which caused the Stewart-Hass racing driver’s bodywork to rub on his rear-left tyre.
Harvick elected to stay out, but that proved to be a disastrous decision as his tyre blew two laps later, causing a fourth caution and serving a blow to the reigning champion’s hopes of retaining the Cup.
