NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) and his crew celebrate the win during the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Denny Hamlin steals Goodyear 400 in OT, wins second straight race

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Apr 6, 2025 7:07 PM ET

NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) during the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Denny Hamlin won his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Darlington, but his means of winning were far different on Sunday than they were a week ago.

William Byron led the first 243 laps of Sunday's Goodyear 400, but a late-race pit cycle flipped the leaders. Suddenly, Tyler Reddick held the race lead, forcing Christopher Bell and Byron to chase from over five seconds back.

In the shadows, Ryan Blaney began to mount an incredible charge. After trailing Reddick by as much as 17 seconds immediately following the cycle of pit stops, Blaney hunted down the leader and passed Reddick on Lap 290.

Unfortunately for Blaney, Kyle Larson's second wreck of the day brought out the final caution of the race, forcing Blaney — who was set to drive away from Reddick — to lead the field down pit road. While Blaney slipped from first to fourth on pit lane, Denny Hamlin's crew got Hamlin out first.

More trouble for Larson!

We'll have a sprint to the finish! pic.twitter.com/2u6nBr4EOs
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 6, 2025

In NASCAR overtime, there wasn't much Reddick or the rest of the field could do to stop Hamlin, who pulled away and won by 0.597 seconds over Byron.

The win is the 56th of Hamlin's career and his fifth at Darlington. The win gives him sole possession of 11th on NASCAR's all-time wins list, breaking a tie with 1989 champion Rusty Wallace.

"There's two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson," Hamlin told Fox Sports. "The pit crew did an amazing job. They won it last week, they won it this week. It's all about them."

Make it a double, @dennyhamlin! pic.twitter.com/luDI2bAOZc
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 6, 2025

Byron, Bell, Reddick and Blaney rounded out the top five, with Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch completing the top 10.

Other notable finishers included Joey Logano in 13th, Bubba Wallace in 21st, Chase Briscoe in 28th, Brad Keselowski in 33rd and Larson in 37th.

The ninth race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13. The Food City 500 will go green shortly after 3 p.m. ET, with coverage on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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