Denny Hamlin Battles to Second-Straight Win at Dover Motor Speedway

The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 was worth the wait for Denny Hamlin, as he scored his fourth win of the NASCAR Cup Series season at Dover Motor Speedway.

Race Results: NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover

Hamlin and the rest of the field waited out a 56-minute, 23-second rain delay with 14 laps to go before returning to complete the event after track drying commenced. From there, Hamlin held off the likes of Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe on three late-race restarts, including two overtime restarts, for the win.

"Things were going pretty well there before the rain," said Hamlin. "Obviously, had to endure a few restarts there. It was tough. Those guys gave me a run for it, no doubt about it."

Hamlin also won the NASCAR Cup Series event at Dover in 2024, giving him back-to-back wins at "The Monster Mile" and three wins at the track in his career. Hamlin takes pride in this accomplishment, coming at a track that was one of his worst early in his career.

"Winning here at Dover is super special to me," said Hamlin. "This is a place that I had not been very good at the first half of my career. To go back-to-back here the last few years has been amazing."

"I just studied some of the greats here. I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win ten times here. You learn from the greats, and you change your game to match it."

Hamlin is now the first driver with four wins this season in the NASCAR Cup Series. He previously won back-to-back races at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway, then added a third win at Michigan International Speedway.

Briscoe finished second to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate after battling fiercely for the win on the second and final overtime restart. Briscoe did everything he could to take the win without jeoparding a win for his team.

"I don't know," said Briscoe. "I did everything I needed to. I thought I had him there for a second. I wish the Camry, the back was about three inches shorter. I was so close to clearing him, I just couldn't do it. Obviously, racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won.

"It was honestly a great day. We weren't probably the second-place race car. We were a fifth to tenth car. I'm glad we were able to make a great finish out of it. I would have loved to get our Bass Pro Shops Toyota to victory lane. I thought we were close. I was two, three inches short, I thought, of clearing him."

On the first restart following the rain delay, Bell battled Hamlin for the win. However, Bell spun exiting turn four, sending the race into overtime. It was Bell's second spin while in contention for the lead during the race, as the Oklahoma driver finished 18th.

Briscoe, with two fresh tires after pitting following the red flag, restarted from the outside of the second row in the first overtime attempt, and jumped into second place before an incident involving Zane Smith and Ryan Preece brought the caution flag back out. That gave Briscoe the chance to challenge Hamlin for the win.

The final caution also secured a berth in the final round for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge for Ty Dillon. Dillon received the free pass after battling with John Hunter Nemechek for the top spot among cars one lap down before the yellow flag, allowing him to finish 20th and on the lead lap.

In the other semi-final matchup, Ty Gibbs used a fifth-place finish to eliminate Tyler Reddick (12th). Thus, No. 32 seed Ty Dillon will face No. 6 seed Ty Gibbs for $1 million during the Brickyard 400.

The Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG is next Sunday, July 27 at 2 p.m. ET. Coverage of the crown jewel event from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be available on TNT, the IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Peter Casey, Lumen Digital Agency for Toyota Gazoo Racing