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TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Denny Hamlin started his full-time career at Joe Gibbs Racing with an upset victory in an exhibition race at Daytona. Over the years, he added three more wins in races that didnt count, including a sweep this season in the buildup to the Daytona 500. But when it came to the restrictor-plate races that paid points, Hamlin came up empty time and again. Until now. Hamlin, who opened the season with two exhibition victories only to finish second in the Daytona 500, was again sitting second in the closing laps Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. But he won a drag race with leader Kevin Harvick on a restart with two laps remaining, and was out front when NASCAR froze the field because of debris from an accident. Hamlin let out a deep sigh when the yellow flag waved. "Superspeedway win," he said on his radio. "With points! With points!" "I think Ive gotten better. Ive come close. When you drive as aggressive as I drove early in my career on superspeedways, youre going to have a huge risk, huge reward," he said after the win. "I was either wrecking or finishing in the top three every single superspeedway race and was wrecking most of the time. I think this way of driving and the way Im doing things now kind of lends itself to being a little bit more consistent on these type of race tracks, and really you learn from the guys that are good at it." Hamlin became the eighth winner in 10 races this season as drivers jockey to grab the 16 spots available in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. A victory conceivably gives a driver an automatic berth, and Joe Gibbs Racing now has both Hamlin and Kyle Busch eligible for the Chase. "I wasnt ever worried, but you get a little bit more panicked when its, Win a race and youre in Chase, " he said. "You see all these guys logging wins, wins, wins, and the next thing you know theyre running out of Chase spots. Now we can be a little bit more relaxed." The win came at the track where Hamlin made a brief return last year -- he ran just 23 laps before turning his car over to Brian Vickers -- after missing four races with a broken back. Hamlins return to the car briefly built some momentum for the No. 11 team, but as his back continued to ache, the season fell apart in late summer and it took until the season finale for Hamlin to score his first win of the year. He also missed the Chase for the first time in his career. It didnt appear that Hamlin had enough to beat Harvick, already a two-time winner this season, until the final restart. Harvick didnt get the help he needed from behind, was hung out without any drafting partners, and Hamlin pulled out to a comfortable lead. "We were in a good spot there at the end, and what you would want to put yourself in a position to win," Harvick said. "Our line just never formed up." As Hamlin pulled away, an accident deep in the pack scattered debris, and NASCAR was forced to throw the caution when a bumper was seen laying on the surface. The yellow prevented Greg Biffle, who led five times for a race-high 58 laps, from pulling out of line in an attempt to grab the victory away from Hamlin. "I just didnt want to pass too early. I was going to be the lone soldier on the outside lane," Biffle said. "So I was just waiting. I was setting up to go by him but just never had the chance." Clint Bowyer finished third and was followed by Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Brian Vickers as Toyota took the victory and three of the top four spots. AJ Allmendinger finished fifth in a Chevrolet, followed by Paul Menard and then Harvick, who faded to seventh. Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top 10. Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished a disappointing 26th despite leading three times for 26 laps, second most in the race. Danica Patrick led two times for six laps, and the crowd roared its approval when she drove to the front early in the race. She finished 22nd. "It was nice to lead laps," she said. "It was a fast, fast car so well be happy to take this one to Daytona." It was a rough day for Brad Keselowski, a two-time Talladega winner, who darted to the lead on Lap 14 but appeared to not have cleared Patrick before squeezing in front of her car. She tapped the back of Keselowskis car, sending him for a spin through the grass that caused enough damage to drop him six laps off the pace. "We werent clear enough to make that," crew chief Paul Wolfe told his driver. "Ill just call it at that: We werent clear enough to make that move." Keselowski raced in the heart of the pack after the first incident in an attempt to get his laps back under caution periods. But he was heavily criticized for triggering a 14-car accident with 51 laps remaining. The accident began when Keselowski spun in front of Trevor Bayne, and among those collected were Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson. "Brad made a pretty bold move early, a mind-boggling move, in going in front of Danica and spun out in front of the field and got away with it," Kenseth said. "This time we werent so lucky. He was driving really, really, really aggressively to try to get back up there. "If it was the other way around and it was anybody else except for him, wed all be getting lectured." Gordon also chastised Keselowski. "I had seen him for several laps driving over his head being pretty aggressive," Gordon said. "I knew he was laps down, but he wasnt doing anybody any favours, nor himself." Keselowski took the blame for the late accident. "I just spun out in front of the whole field," he said. "I dont know why, if I just busted my butt on my own or lost a tire, but I feel bad for everyone that got torn up." Sidney Crosby Jersey . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . Specifically, thumbs up to the Canadian-based teams in the NHL, or at least most of them. http://www.penguinsauthenticofficial.com/.Y. -- The New York Islanders were merely content with a lopsided victory. Paul Martin Jersey . "Hes over there," the first baseman said. "You dont need to talk to anybody else." Indeed, Peralta did it all as the majors top team won again. Joe Mullen Jersey . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday.MONTREAL – Professional athletes tend to best remember the teams with which they win a championship. A bond is forged for life. A group gets together, slogs through the adversity of a long season, plays its best when the games matter most and shares the glory of its achievement. The 1994 Montreal Expos didnt win the World Series. Nobody did. A players strike saw to that. But theres this lingering feeling among the nearly two-dozen players and coaches who gathered to celebrate their special team that they would have been champions, that the 1994 Expos would have secured a third-consecutive world championship for a Canadian-based team. “I think thats the one thing that sticks around too much,” said Cliff Floyd. “If youd played it out, youd feel better about it. If we lost you still feel better about going and getting the opportunity to play. When you dont play it out you wonder what if wed gotten the opportunity to play in the playoffs.” “We built a special bond in 1994,” said Marquis Grissom, a two-time All-Star in a 17-year career. “It didnt just start in 94, it started in 1990, in 1989-1990 when we were all in spring training trying to make the team. It just festered all the way up to 94 to where we all came together for one common cause and that was to win a World Series. We didnt expect to do anything less.” Championship baseball teams need a lot to go right. They must do the obvious, like outpitching and outhitting and outscoring their opponents on more nights than not. Emerging clubs - that Expos team was still so young - must also experience breakthrough moments. Floyd, a rookie that year who would go on to play 17 seasons in the big leagues and make an All-Star Game, provided such a moment. It was June 27. The Expos were hosting the then-National League East-leading Braves. Floyd blew open a close game with a two-out, three-run home run in the seventh inning off of future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux. Montreal won the game and closed to within a game-and-a-half of the division lead. By the time the strike started a month and a half later, the Expos led the Braves by six games in the standings. “I think about that a lot,” said Floyd. “I think about when I walked up to the plate that day. I think about what was on my mind that day. I just told myself get a good pitch to hit. The type of team we had then, the expectations and what I did in the minor leagues, they were showcased in 94 but I just said if I can just help us go out and win some games, you dont know what games or how important theyre going to be when you do it but that was one of the biggest moments of my life was for me to get that home run.” Felipe Alou pulled the strings from the dugout. Hell be 79 in May and he speaks of the 1994 team like a proud father. He is, in a literal seense, because his son, Moises, was among the clubs many young stars.dddddddddddd Charged with cultivating that entire unit, two decades later Alou marveled at the talent the franchise had assembled. “The 1994 club was hard to compare with anybody because we had three closers, we had incredible starting pitching and we had speed, power and defence,” he said. “Not too many teams can say that and they were young. They were getting better.” Surely the manager deserves some credit? “Anytime you have a team like that youre a good coach,” said Alou. Much has been theorized about the breakup of the team in the aftermath of the strike. Larry Walker, a could-be Hall-of-Famer whos yet to be voted in and would like an Expos cap on his plaque if the day comes, didnt want to leave. He signed with Colorado when the strike ended and embarked on a tremendous 10-season run with the Rockies before wrapping up his career in St. Louis. “There wasnt a contract on the table for a lot of us and the game kind of dictates that and you move on,” said Walker. “Its the nature of the game. I didnt leave because I hated anybody or hated the city or anything crazy like that. I know theres been some dumb stuff written about it from what Ive been told but I was just another ballplayer trying to win. We had a winning franchise that got broken up.” Grissom insists a group of top-end players went to ownership to try to persuade the group to keep the young core together. “We took it upon ourselves to try to go upstairs and tell them, hey, well take less money to stay together,” said Grissom. “We dont know how much less that would have been but, really, the strike took effect on us and there wasnt anything we could do. Even if wed taken less money I still dont think we would have stayed here.” There are more gray hairs. In some cases, the bellies are bigger. But the memories came flooding back, the reunion a chance to ask the “what if?” question one more time. If this weekend accomplishes nothing else, its reminded the powers of Major League Baseball that Montreal is a baseball town. Right now theres no ownership and no stadium for the franchise pipe dream but at least one man is hoping that the energy that still surrounds the 1994 Expos will contribute to the momentum to bring a team back to Montreal. “I believe that if we ever get a team back here it will be because of the 1994 team,” said Alou. “That is what the people in these communities, Montreal, Laval, the cities around here, they are holding on to the 1994 club. They believe that this memory, they talk about it. We are here, the 1994 team. Its not the 1993 or the 1995, its the 1994. The people hope and I hope that that club that was so good will help bring baseball back to this city.” ' ' '