Denny Hamlin wins at Darlington in thrilling overtime finish

Denny Hamlin won the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway Sunday afternoon, claiming his 56th Cup Series career victory. He only led 10 laps, but they were the ones that mattered most.

The final caution of the race came after a spin by Kyle Larson and Hamlin seized the opportunity to pit for fresh tires. His crew excelled when it mattered most and Hamlin took the lead for the overtime restart. He scored his second consecutive victory, following his win last week at Martinsville

“There’s two people I really love right now,” Hamlin said, “my pit crew and Kyle Larson, had a little assist there, so thank you.”

He also acknowledged his team’s performance, saying, “The pit crew just did an amazing job. They won it last week (at Martinsville), they won it this week, it’s all about them.”

It was a disappointing day at Darlington for Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, who was dominant throughout the race. After leading 243 laps and winning the first two stages of the race, he had to settle for a disappointing second-place finish. However, he currently leads the driver standings by 49 points over Hamlin.

“First off, just really proud of my team to bring that level of effort and preparation and have a car like that and us execute like that, it was looking like we were going to have a perfect race and we were going to lead every lap,” Byron said.

“So, I was really proud of that. Those guys could just be aggressive on the other side of the green flag cycle and we just lost control, and once we lost control, it was too late to get back up there.

“It sucks and I’m sure it will sting tonight, but there are still a lot of positives. It just stings in the moment for sure. But at the same time, I’m really proud of that effort by the whole team. It shows what we’re really made of, and hopefully there’s a lot more of that to come.”

Hamlin’s teammate Christopher Bell finished third, followed by 23XI Racing’s  Tyler Reddick in fourth as Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five. Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe and Todd Gilliland completed the top 10.

Next week, the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Food City 500.

Darlington Goodyear 400 Results:

1. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
2. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
3. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
5. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
6. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
7. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
8. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
9. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
10. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
11. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
12. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
13. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
14. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
15. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
16. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
17. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
18. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
19. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
20. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
21. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
22. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Garage Ford
23. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
24. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
26. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
27. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Motorsports Ford
28. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
29. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
30. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
31. Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
33. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
34. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
35. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
36. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
37. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
38. JJ Yeley, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet

Next week, the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Food City 500 at 3 p.m. on FS1 with radio coverage provided by PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.