Denny Hamlin Holds Off NASCAR Field On Old Tires Following Rain Delay at Dover

Yahoo

a day ago

Denny Hamlin won Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover, breaking the four-way tie and becoming the winningest driver of the 2025 season. Hamlin led 67 laps, surviving three restarts in the closing ten laps en route to the victory.
With practice and qualifying rained out this weekend, Hamlin started in 13th and wasn't a contender until the closing stage as he worked his way through the field. His teammates Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell, along with Hendrick's Chase Elliott, were the main talking points as Elliott and Bell dominated early, with Bell spinning from the lead, or a battle for the lead twice.
Early in the final stage, Bell spun from the lead, falling back to 22nd. With 65 laps remaining, rain began to fall, and Bell was slowing down, about to go to pit row, when the call was made to stay out. Bell and Austin Dillon were the last two to cycle through and reaped the benefits of the rain caution. Bell restarted up front after only slowly working his way back from 22nd.
It seemed like after spinning from the lead, the rain would save Bell's day.
Hamlin took the lead on the restart with 57 laps to go, with a bigger cell coming, which competitors and NASCAR knew would mean a red flag and whole jet drying period, the next 40 laps raced as if they were the final few. Finally, with 17 laps remaining, instead of the expected rain, Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet brought out the yellow. He ended up blocking the entry to the pit lane as teams decided what would be best to set up the final sprint, which would run after the rain. The race was red-flagged with 13 laps remaining as the heavy rain passed over the track, saturating it completely.
The race resumed around an hour and 15 minutes following the red flag, with the top seven teams staying out on old tires. Ryan Blaney, in eighth, was the first to pit for two tires. On the restart, the fifth row was the first with new right-side tires, with Briscoe on the high line in tenth.
Briscoe was the biggest mover on the restart, making it up to sixth before Bell spun again, this time while trying to pass Hamlin for the lead. Bell's spin collected the No. 24 of William Byron running fourth and Noah Gragson, who stayed out to join the leaders in eighth.
Briscoe restarted behind his teammate, with the Hendricks of Elliott and Larson on the inside. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota would push Hamlin to the lead on the first attempt of an overtime Green-White-Checkers finish.
Zane Smith and Ryan Preece crashed in the midfield to bring out the caution before the white flag was captured.
On the next GWC restart, Briscoe lined up next to his teammate on the front row with fresher right-side tires. Hamlin would hold on at the start and pull away on the second half of the final lap to record his second straight win at Dover and the 58th win of his career.
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