Taking advantage of changing conditions Sunday at Kansas Speedway, Denny Hamlin held off Martin Truex Jr. over the final 30 laps to win the STP 400, his second victory of the season, his first at the 1.5-mile track and the 19th of his career.

In his second race with 2011 Sprint Cup championship crew chief Darian Grubb on his pit box, Denny Hamlin held off Kevin Harvick in a 53-lap green-flag run to finish the 312-lap race at the one-mile track and took over the series points lead for the first time since surrendering it in the final race of 2010 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Denny Hamlin’s first in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 12 starts, adding the driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to the list of drivers, now 23 in number, who have won at least one race in each of NASCAR’s top three series

As was the case last year, the victory in the Pit Crew Challenge will give Denny Hamlin first choice of pit stalls for Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The no-brainer selection is pit stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road.

Denny Hamlin stormed past Matt Kenseth late on Sunday afternoon en route to his eighth victory of the season. The win at Texas Motor Speedway moved Hamlin atop the driver’s standings in NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup.