Denny Hamlin held off Kyle Larson for his third NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway.
Hamlin controlled the Wurth 400 off the final restart with 62 laps to go. However, Larson was able to erase Hamlin’s 1.5s lead that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver held with 35 laps to go to get within a few car lengths at the finish.
DENNY HAMLIN HOLDS OFF KYLE LARSON TO WIN AT DOVER! pic.twitter.com/15av5mvYFE
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 28, 2024
The victory was Hamlin’s second at Dover. Hamlin is now tied with William Byron with a series-leading three victories.
“Just a great team,” Hamlin said. “This whole Mavis Tires and Brakes team just did a great job; all the guys on the [pit] wall right here were the ones who made it happen, so thank you to them, Chris Gabehart, [Chris] Lambert and the whole team for giving me great cars.
“Man, I love winning.”
Hamlin led a race-high 136 of 400 laps. Larson won the second stage.
The pair finished 4s ahead of Martin Truex Jr., who finished third. Truex won the first stage and led 69 laps.
Kyle Busch finished fourth after starting from the pole. He led the first 34 laps but never regained the top spot after losing the lead to Ryan Blaney in the first stage.
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Chase Elliott completed the top five finishers. Noah Gragson finished sixth, Blaney, seventh, Alex Bowman, eighth, Daniel Hemric, ninth and Ty Gibbs, 10th.
The final restart was set up by the race’s final caution that flew with 72 laps to go — a three-car crash off Turn 2, itself occurring on a restart. Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Christopher Bell were collected, and the incident ended the race for each driver.
Corey Heim finished 25th in his Cup Series debut with Legacy Motor Club. Heim finished three laps down in the No. 43 Toyota.
Sunday’s race had five caution flags, with 12 lead changes among nine drivers.
Hamlin moved into a tie with Lee Petty for 12th on the all-time wins list at 54.
“It’s just fantastic,” Hamlin said. “I couldn’t hold Lee Petty’s helmet, but I’ve been blessed with a great race team. This whole FedEx, Mavis, Sport Clips, everyone that supports this No. 11 car, they’re the ones who make it happen. I’m just the lucky one who gets to drive it.”