After a thunderstorm kept the crowd down for Denny Hamlin’s charity race, the host put a move on Kyle Busch on the final lap and finally won his own event. Busch had dominated all night, but when the race went back to green after a caution with three laps to go, Hamlin surged from fourth to second right away, stalked his teammate with Joe Gibbs Racing and passed him on the backstretch when Busch ran out of fuel. “I’m glad he ran out of fuel because it might have got ugly,” Hamlin said. “Trust me, if Kyle wouldn’t have run out of gas, I would have done everything possible to get around him.” Michael Waltrip finished second, followed by Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Frank Deiny Jr. Hamlin, who said last week that the race raised over $100,000 last year, said he will wait to see how much money was raised this year, then give 10% to help tornado victims. Where that money will go specifically will be determined by where there is the most need, he said. His usual charities — the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Richmond — will receive the other 90% of money raised. The victory was the first for Hamlin in his fourth Short Track Showdown, and came after he qualified on the pole, then opted to start at the back of the 36-car field. When it was over, he gave his racing helmet to a fan.(Associated Press)(4-29-2011)
