NASCAR News: Hamlin holds off Larson at Dover

Denny Hamlin secured his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season, holding off Kyle Larson’s late-race charge and driving to victory Sunday afternoon at Dover Motor Speedway.

Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the lead from Larson during a late race pit stop cycle, beating him off pit road then leading the final 72 laps. He got the jump on Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on both of the final two restarts then managed an advantage that was more than 2-seconds at one point with Larson closing on him.

Larson got within two-tenths of a second of Hamlin as they negotiated traffic on the famous one-mile Dover track in the closing laps but was unable to get close enough to attempt a pass.

Larson drove home as the runner-up, with his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports just 0.256 seconds behind at the checkered flag. Martin Truex Jr. placed third, with Kyle Busch fourth and Chase Elliott completing the top five. Truex and Larson divided the stage victories.

Larson was understandably disappointed standing next to his car after the race and explained that contact between his car and the No. 19 car on a late race restart hurt his chances of being able to get going properly and challenge Hamlin.

“I knew when I got within three car-lengths, he was going to start moving around,” said Larson, who led 39 laps. “I couldn’t really do anything. I was trying all sorts of different angles and speeds, all that. Nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough I guess, to do anything. That was a bummer.

“A great day for our HendrickCars.com Chevy team. Started 21st, drove up to sixth in the first stage or fifth. Got a stage win. Another stage win sounds good. Good points day. We would have loved to get a win.”

A crash on a restart with 72 laps remaining sidelined Christopher Bell, William Byron and Bubba Wallace when their running room ran out at the Turn 2 exit. The result marked Byron’s first failure to finish this season, but the second consecutive DNFs for both Bell and Wallace.

Craftsman Truck Series regular Corey Heim finished three laps down in 25th in his Cup Series debut, substituting for the injured Erik Jones in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson – coming off his best career finish (third) last week at Talladega, Ala. – finished sixth, his fourth top-10 of the year. Reigning champion, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney was seventh followed by Hendrick’s Alex Bowman, Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs. It marked the second consecutive top-10 for Hemric, equaling his best result of the year.

It was a rough outing for the series’ other three-race winners this season, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The perennial race favorite was involved in a three-car accident with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and JGR’s Christopher Bell with 71 laps remaining. It marked the first DNF for Byron this season and the second consecutive DNF for both Wallace and Bell. Byron had an issue during a pit stop that left him mid-pack and that’s exactly where the incident happened.

“Just sucks,” Byron told the Performance Racing Network. “We had a good car early, but once we got in traffic, we were terrible.”

The Cup Series’ next race is the AdventHealth 400, scheduled next Sunday, May 5) at Kansas Speedway.

Denny Hamlin Quotes

End of the race, you’re having to deal with lap traffic, a hard-charging Kyle Larson behind you. How did you manage all that?

DENNY HAMLIN: Just a great team. This whole Mavis Tires and Brakes team did a great job. All the guys on the wall right here, they’re the ones that make it happen. Thank you to them. Chris Gabehart, the whole team for just giving me great cars. Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, Shady Rays, Coca-Cola. Man, just a great partnership with all.

Man, I love winning.

You managed to win the race off of pit road off of stage two. Was that the key moment?

DENNY HAMLIN: I think the key moment really was Kyle did a great job executing on that green flag pit stop. Then we were able to get the lead on the restart, which allowed us with a caution to control the restart. That was the key moment for us.

Man, certainly feels good winning here at Dover.

You tied Lee Petty for 12th most on the all-time list. What’s does that mean to you?

DENNY HAMLIN: It’s fantastic. I couldn’t hold Lee Petty’s helmet. I’ve been blessed with a great race team. This whole FedEx team, Mavis team, Sport Clips, everyone that supports this 11 car, they’re the ones that make it happen. I’m the lucky one that gets to drive it.

Kyle Larson Quotes

Kyle Larson brings it home second. You just heard Denny loves to win. A good battle between you two. Anything you could have done differently with your race car?

KYLE LARSON: Not in the last 10. Just losing the lead when I got the restart as a leader. I went late in the zone. Martin was trying to time it behind me. He hit me right when I wanted to go. Screwed up. Got a lot of wheel spin.

He was kind of able to out-race me into one. His car was really good on the short runs. I could pace it, get closer to him at the end of the runs. It’s so easy to air block. Not that he was doing anything dirty or anything like that. It’s so easy as the leader, especially at a place like this, to shut off the air on the guys behind you.

I knew when I got within three car lengths, he was going to start moving around. I couldn’t really do anything. I was trying all sorts of different angles and speeds, all that. Nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough I guess to do anything. That was a bummer.

A great day for our HendrickCars.com Chevy team. Started 21st, drove up to sixth in the first stage, or fifth. Got a stage win. Another stage win sounds good. Good points day. We would have loved to get a win.

Always fast here at Dover. Just needed to be a little bit better on the restarts. I’ve lost a lot of races on restarts here. Just keep trying to get better.

Wurth 400 Race Results