MADISON, Ill. — Denny Hamlin finally got over the hump.

The 44-year-old managed to shed his runner-up tag by rolling to victory in the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison.

Hamlin finished second in each of the past two races at Gateway.

This time around, the pole-sitter jumped to the lead off a restart on Lap 161 and never looked back in the 240-lap event.

“I still don’t feel like I’m the best here,” Hamlin said. “We just had a nice solid day on pit road.”

A native of Tampa, Florida, Hamlin finished 1.62 seconds ahead of Chase Briscoe in the NASCAR Cup Series affair. Chase Elliott, who started 19th, rallied to finish third.

A sold-out grandstand crown enjoyed a three-hour, three-minute see-saw race that featured 15 lead changes and 10 cautions.

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