Denny Hamlin prevails at Darlington for second straight win
Denny Hamlin doubled up his 2025 victory total Sunday, but the 44-year-old Virginia native had to win a race off pit road and a two-lap shootout to do it.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver came off pit road first, roared off on a two-lap overtime shootout and found checkers for the second straight race, claiming the NASCAR Cup Series' Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.
Following pit service after Kyle Larson wrecked with four laps to go, Hamlin's crew turned in a 9.4-second pit stop on his red Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Throwback Weekend to lock in the top spot in the green-white-checker run.
The No. 11 Toyota quickly moved away and saw the lead grow as William Byron, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick ran three-wide in Turn 4 for second while Hamlin came to the white flag.
Posting his fifth win at Darlington, Hamlin beat Byron by 0.597 seconds while leading just 10 laps.
Denny Hamlin celebrates at Darlington Raceway. AFP
"There's two people I really love right now -- my pit crew and Kyle Larson," joked Hamlin, whose 56th career win broke a tie with Rusty Wallace for 11th in all-time wins. "I had a little assist there, but thank you. But, man, the pit crew did an amazing job. They won it last week and they won it this week. It's all about them."
Byron dominated by pacing the first 243 laps but was shuffled back to third with 50 to go after pitting four laps later than Bell and Reddick, who ended up third and fourth respectively.
"It was looking like it was going to be a perfect race and we were going to lead every lap," said Byron, who posted a career-high with his 243 led laps. "We just lost control (of the lead) there, and once we lost control, it was too late in the going to get back up there. I'm sure it'll sting tonight."
Ford driver Ryan Blaney had his first-ever top-five finish at Darlington but appeared headed to victory in the final laps until Larson's crash with four to go.
To start the race, Larson lost control of his No. 5 Chevrolet off Turn 2 all by himself on Lap 4 and smacked the inside wall, getting significant damage on the first caution.
Byron's Chevrolet set a hot pace as the field behind him fought the difficult track. With eight laps to go in the segment while Byron was lapping Carson Hocevar's No. 77 Chevrolet, Riley Herbst's No. 35 Toyota turned Hocevar, who had brought out the second caution on Lap 24, to force the third yellow session.
In a two-lap sprint to finish Stage 1, Byron held off Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece to snare the maximum bonus points, becoming the first driver since stage-racing's inception to lead every lap in a segment at Darlington.
Byron continued his dominance and was again the best car in Stage 2, as he beat Joey Logano and Hamlin in the 100-circuit segment.
Reddick pitted four laps ahead of Byron with 50 to go to swipe the lead from him on fresher tires, but Blaney erased Reddick's six-second lead with four laps to go before Larson's second crash.
Associated Press
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