It’s the first road course win of Hamlin’s Cup career and he survived a race that had eight cautions for 24 laps and two red flags for 30 minutes.
On the final lap, Hamlin, who was beaten on the road course at Sonoma in June by Tony Stewart in a bang on the last turn, 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, who led the first 25 laps, 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. for the third straight race and finished 14th in his 800th career start. Earnhardt visited Watkins Glen on Friday and is recovering from a concussion. He will miss at least two more races.
The race, which featured seven cautions and two red flag stoppages, was shaping up as another duel between Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch in the closing laps. But a rash of late cautions shuffled Busch back.
The sixth caution flew on lap 78 for a blown engine in Alex Kennedy’s No. 55 Chevrolet and erased a 5-second lead the two leaders had built over Hamlin, Truex and Logano.
Keselowski lost the lead on the restart when both he and Busch overdrove the first turn, a 90-degree downhill right-hander, and Hamlin sneaked past to take the lead before another caution flew. Busch dropped to fifth, but Keselowski only dropped a spot.
Clauson was airlifted to a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, following the Saturday night crash. His family offered no details regarding his injuries in a statement provided by Bryan Clausen Racing.
Clauson is considered the nation’s top short-track dirt-car driver. He has won four USAC national championships and was participating in his 116th race of the season on Saturday night.
His schedule this year was on pace for 200 starts, and that included a 23rd-place finish in the Indianapolis 500.
The 27-year-old Indiana resident has started three Indianapolis 500s and was a development driver for Chip Ganassi in NASCAR, where he competed in 26 races over the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
Clauson was a three-time winner and the defending champion at Belleville. He flipped off the guard rail between turns 3 and 4 while leading. His car rolled several times and was hit by another car.
It was his second wreck of the weekend.
He started seventh on Friday night before he was in another vicious wreck. After that accident, he posted on Twitter his appreciation for his safety equipment, his chassis manufacturer and his team for getting his car ready for him to race Saturday night.
Many top NASCAR drivers immediately took to Twitter to ask for prayers for Clauson, a driver well known and well liked in the racing community. Among those anxiously awaiting an update on his condition were Tony Stewart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer, who all have roots in dirt racing and USAC.
“Wishing the best for @BryanClauson after a violent crash last night at Belleville Nationals,” posted Jeff Gordon.