31 Moments: No. 26 -- Denny Hamlin survives for first 'Dega win

Editor's note: For the month of December, FOXSports.com will count down 31 moments that defined the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. This is No. 26.
 
The spring race at Talladega Superspeedway saw Denny Hamlin survive a long afternoon of mayhem to win a battle that ended with a whimper instead of a bang.
 
Hamlin won when a crash at the back of the field on the last lap brought out a caution flag, freezing the field and preventing a race back to the checkered flag. Hamlin, who had his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the lead when the yellow waved, was credited with his 24th Sprint Cup victory in 300 career starts.
 
Greg Biffle finished second in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford, followed by Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers, and AJ Allmendinger of JTG Daugherty Racing.
 
With many of the best racers in the field taken out by earlier accidents, Hamlin was in the right place at the right time to capitalize with his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
 
In the process, Hamlin became the eighth different winner of the Sprint Cup season. And he assured himself a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
 
"Well, we really just want to win races, regardless of what the implications mean for the Chase," said Hamlin, who was victorious for the first time in 33 restrictor-plate points races. "It feels good to be back in Victory Lane in a points-paying event."
 
Hamlin's last points-race victory came in the final race of the 2013 Sprint Cup season and this one meant he has won at least once in all nine of his full-time Sprint Cup seasons. And it gave JGR a weekend sweep, with Elliott Sadler winning the 'Dega NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday.
 
The victory was vindication for Hamlin, who at Daytona International Speedway in February won the exhibition Sprint Unlimited and his Duel 150 qualifying race, but finished second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Daytona 500.
 
But the real shocker was this: Hamlin's victory at Talladega on May 4 was just the second and final Cup race JGR would win all season long, after winning 12 races the year before.