Denny Hamlin Opens Chase With Victory

Chicagoland was quite kind to Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin on Sunday afternoon, as Hamlin earned the first Chase for the Sprint Cup win for 2015.

A hard charge from Carl Edwards, who was quick all day, was held off by a thorough drive from an #11 car with cleaner air. Kurt Busch also had a say in the matter, but in the waning laps, the #41 team just couldn't get it done.

Sneaky Ryan Newman logged a fourth-place finish and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

New Hampshire is on deck, and we'll get to see who punches their ticket to round two of the Chase next week.