Hamlin takes the lead out of pits and holds off Byron in overtime to win at Darlington Raceway.
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin took the lead coming out of the pits before a final overtime finish and held off William Byron to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.
Hamlin won for a second straight week after his success at Martinsville and for the fifth time overall at Darlington, the most of any current driver.
Hamlin chose the outside lane for a final restart and shot out to the lead and pulled away from series points leader Byron and NASCAR wins leader Christopher Bell.
Hamlin looked like he'd have a strong finish, but not a winning one as Ryan Blaney passed Tyler Reddick for the lead with three laps left. But moments later, Kyle Larson spun out forcing a final caution and the extra laps.
It was then time for Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew to shine as it got him out quickly and in the lead.
Byron, who led the first 243 laps, was second with Hamlin's JGR teammate Bell in third.
'There are two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson,' Hamlin said to a round of boos from those in the stands.
Reddick was fourth and Blaney was fifth. Bad day
Kyle Larson, who won the Southern 500 here in 2023, had high hopes for a second Darlington win. But he slid into the inside wall coming off the second turn on lap three and went right to garage where his team worked the next couple of hours to get him back on track. Larson returned on lap 164 after falling 161 laps off the pace. Larson finished next to last in 37th. Biffle's ride
Greg Biffle, the last NASCAR driver to win consecutive Cup Series victories at Darlington in 2006 and 2007, drove the pace car for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday. Biffle has had an eventful few months, flying rescue missions with his helicopter into areas of the Southeast affected by devastating Hurricane Helene in September.
Biffle was planning a weeklong trip to the Bahamas when his phone started going off about people stranded in parts of Western North Carolina.
'I went to the hangar and the power was out,' Biffle said. 'We got the hangar down open with the tug and got the helicopter out. Once I got in the air, I realized what had taken place."
Biffle then flew the next 11 days from 'sunup to sundown."
'It was incredible,' Biffle said. 'It was pretty tough going for the first week.'
Biffle won the Myers Brothers Humanitarian Award for his work. Up next
The series goes to Bristol on April 13 before taking its traditional Easter break.
___
AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing
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