Hamlin wins as SVG hampered by early issue
Veteran Denny Hamlin loves a victory on the short track Dover Motor Speedway as a three-time winner, as the Joe Gibbs Racer took his fourth NASCAR win this season
It was a typically wild ending at Dover with restart upon restart, while the Round 21 stoush was also defined by an hour-long red flag for heavy rain that threw plenty of strategies out the window.
Hamlin’s third Delaware one-miler was the 58th of his career across 20 years, and he got it by first getting a helping bump from teammate Chase Briscoe to overcome a surging Kyle Larson, before he then had to face off with Briscoe in a proceeding overtime shootout. And that’s after he initially had to fend off another teammate in Christopher Bell.
It was the high line that served the #11 Toyota driver best, as Briscoe nosed ahead through the turns in a side-by-side battle, but Denny’s surged out of them to leave the #19 with a second straight runners-up finish, with Alex Bowman taking third over Larson and Ty Gibbs.
It was an important fifth place for Gibbs as he knocked out the 12th placed Tyler Reddick from the million-dollar In Season Challenge, and will now have an Indianapolis showdown with Ty Dillon in a battle of the Ty’s as the last men standing.
Before the heavy pour, it was Chase Elliot that had the majority ascendency with 238 of 407 laps led, whilst Hamlin was no slouch with 67 of them to achieve back-to-back Dover wins to make it three after his first in 2020.
“Things are going pretty well there before the rain,” said Hamlin.
“Then obviously had to endure a few restarts there. But yeah, it was tough. Those guys gave me a run for it, no doubt about it.
“This whole Progressive Toyota team did amazing … winning here in Dover is super special to me. This is a place I’ve not been very good at in the first half of my career. Having a back-to-back here over the last few years is amazing.”
A fourth win on the season (Martinsville/Darlington/Michigan/Dover) also makes him the first to four in 2025, with Larson, Shane van Gisbergen, and Bell all on three.
As for the race high leader, Elliot took out the first Stage win – leading for 171 of the first 184 laps – but his day became unstuck when his Hendricks Chevrolet fell off the jack in a green flag pit stop.
And as for Bell, who led for 67 laps and took the Stage 2 points, he was in it at the death before causing the first of two quick cautions that defined the race’s end.
Shane van Gisbergen was hopeful of something special by starting from his personal best oval starting spot of sixth.
However, a flat front right tyre brought a cruel end to those hopes after just 11 laps and reduced him to 30th.
“Getting that punctured tire there at the start of the race really put us in a hole, then my SafetyCulture Chevrolet was just so tight,” SVG said.
“My 88 team kept working on the car, but just couldn’t get it quite comfortable. Sucks to have a race like this after the momentum we’ve had the past month.
“We’ll continue to learn from this and get better and try again next weekend.”
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action on Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
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