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Watkins Glen, N.Y. • Denny Hamlin wasn't about to get shoved aside again.

Ignoring intense back pain, Hamlin prevailed in a four-lap dash to the checkered flag Sunday to win the wreck-filled Sprint Cup race at newly paved Watkins Glen International.

It's the first road-course win of Hamlin's Cup career and atoned for his stunning loss on the road course at Sonoma in June, when he was beaten by Tony Stewart with a bang on the last turn.

"It's very hard to win these races," said Hamlin. "I only made one mistake at Sonoma, and I didn't win."

Hamlin was nearly flawless at The Glen and conserved enough fuel at the end, thanks to eight cautions for 20 laps.

On the final lap, Hamlin, held a slim lead over Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski as the three ran nose-to-tail entering the final turns of the 90-lap race. Keselowski spun Truex in the turn and Hamlin's No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota coasted to the victory.

Joey Logano finished second, followed by Penske teammate Keselowski, AJ Allmendinger, and Stewart.

Kyle Busch, Truex, Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 10. Polesitter Carl Edwards finished 15th.

Stewart, who is retiring after the season, will finish his stellar Cup career with eight road wins, one fewer than the record nine of Jeff Gordon. Gordon, who retired after last season, drove the No. 88 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports in relief of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (concussion) for the third straight race and finished 14th. —

Sprint Cup results

At Watkins Glen International Glen, N.Y. length: 2.450 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 90 laps, 112.6 rating, 44 points.

2. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, 90, 105.9, 40.

3. (12) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 90, 119.9, 40.

4. (9) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 90, 90.2, 37.

5. (3) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 90, 83.8, 36.

6. (5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 90, 117.0, 36.

7. (14) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 90, 101.6, 35.

8. (10) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 90, 88.7, 33.

9. (32) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 90, 65.8, 32.

10. (4) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 90, 95.2, 31.

11. (17) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 90, 83.0, 31.

12. (20) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 90, 61.2, 29.

13. (16) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 90, 79.9, 28.

14. (21) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 90, 67.6, 27.

15. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 90, 94.4, 27.

16. (8) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 90, 63.0, 25.

17. (11) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 90, 57.2, 24.

18. (28) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 90, 68.9, 23.

19. (19) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 90, 54.3, 22.

20. (23) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 90, 52.5, 21.

21. (31) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 90, 83.1, 21.

22. (33) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 90, 72.3, 19.

23. (40) Landon Cassill, Ford, 90, 43.7, 18.

24. (37) Boris Said, Ford, 90, 38.2, 17.

25. (27) Brian Scott, Ford, 90, 67.7, 16.

26. (39) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 90, 33.6, 15.

27. (34) Aric Almirola, Ford, 90, 55.6, 14.

28. (22) Cole Whitt, Ford, 90, 64.8, 13.

29. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 89, 74.4, 12.

30. (25) Chris Buescher, Ford, 89, 51.2, 11.

31. (18) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 89, 35.2, 10.

32. (15) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, accident, 83, 75.8, 9.

33. (26) David Ragan, Toyota, accident, 83, 68.7, 8.

34. (35) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, accident, 83, 65.5, 7.

35. (29) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 77, 29.3, 6.

36. (36) Alex Kennedy, Chevrolet, engine, 76, 47.8, 5.

37. (38) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 74, 24.7, 4.

38. (30) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, accident, 52, 62.7, 3.

39. (24) Greg Biffle, Ford, accident, 52, 57.8, 2.

40. (13) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, accident, 52, 59.9, 1.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 89.513 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 27 minutes, 48 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 2.065 seconds.

Wins: Ky.Busch, 4; B.Keselowski, 4; C.Edwards, 2; J.Johnson, 2; M.Kenseth, 2; C.Buescher, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; K.Harvick, 1; J.Logano, 1; T.Stewart, 1; M.Truex, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 709; 2. B.Keselowski, 687; 3. Ku.Busch, 658; 4. Ky.Busch, 634; 5. C.Edwards, 626; 6. J.Logano, 612; 7. J.Johnson, 577; 8. M.Truex, 577; 9. D.Hamlin, 576; 10. M.Kenseth, 569; 11. A.Dillon, 549; 12. R.Newman, 537; 13. C.Elliott, 533; 14. J.McMurray, 517; 15. K.Larson, 508; 16. K.Kahne, 488.