Cup Series: Denny's Dover hat-trick
- Bailey Defoor
- Jul 21
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 22
Written by Bailey Defoor
Credit: Ethan Smith / NASCAR Digital Media
Denny Hamlin secured his third win and second in a row at Dover after a weather red flag and double overtime.
As it unfolded
Qualifying was rained out, so Chase Elliott was awarded the pole with Chase Briscoe alongside him. Prior to going green, NASCAR announced a competition caution will be called at Lap 35.
They went green and Elliott had the initial lead but Briscoe jumped ahead on Lap 2.
Shane van Gisbergen pitted on Lap 11 after reporting an issue and fell from sixth to 37th since the start. He came back out four laps down.
Elliot closely followed Briscoe through Lap 13 before sweeping around the outside of Briscoe for the lead on Lap 15.
On Lap 38, all drivers pitted under the scheduled caution. Elliott, Briscoe and Christopher Bell came out as they were, and Kyle Busch made up a few places off pit road.
For the restart on Lap 43, Elliott gets ahead immediately as Briscoe battles with Bell before Bell gets up to second.
William Byron joins the battle for second on Lap 44. Briscoe gets ahead while Bell and Byron fight back.
Bell passed Briscoe on Lap 59.
On Lap 76, Hamlin, last year’s Dover winner, passed Briscoe for fourth after starting in 13th.
Busch passed Briscoe for fifth on Lap 87.
On Lap 99, Alex Bowman passed Busch on the front stretch.
In the closing laps of the stage, Bell has closed in on Elliott as Elliott battles with lapped traffic. Hamlin also joins the fight on Lap 113.
Erik Jones scraped the wall at Turns 3-4on Lap 119 but the caution is not called. AJ Almendinger also had damage from an unwound tyre but nursed it to the pit lane.
Stage 1 Results:
No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Motorsports)
No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
Most of the field pits under the stage caution. Elliott, Bell, Hamlin and Byron come out as they were, with Bell inches ahead of Hamlin.
On Lap 129, Elliott clears for the lead again on the restart.
Bowman passed Briscoe for fifth on Lap 155.
By Lap 165, Elliott started to struggle against lapped traffic, and this allowed Bell and Hamlin to close in.
Starting on Lap 181, cars start pitting and leader Elliott pits on lap 186. It was a slow stop for Elliott, allowing for Bell to pass him on pit road. Hamlin, who pitted one lap prior to both drivers, comes out on top. Carson Hocevar leads.
Hocevar pits on lap 194 as Bell passes Hamlin for the net lead.
Bell passed Daniel Suárez, who had yet to pit, on Lap 202.
Hocevar got loose and brushed the wall at Turn 2 from 29th on Lap 214.
On Lap 219, Allmendinger pitted from 26th with a reported brake issue. He goes back out but pits again on lap 225 after reporting no rear brakes. He goes behind the wall.
Kyle Larson passed Byron for fifth out of Turn 4 on Lap 242.
On Lap 244, Bowman passed Hamilin for second in Turn 4.
Stage 2 Results:
No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
After another cycle of pit stops, Bell and Elliot come out first. Elliott made up two places on pit road while Bowman and Hamlin fell two places each.
On Lap 260, Elliott and Bell lead the way side by side until Bell goes sideways. This is the first incident related caution on the race, but he kept the car out of the wall and made it into the pits.
Credit: Riley Thompson / NASCAR Digital Media
Now, Elliott and Hamlin lead the way on Lap 266. Elliott easily cleared for the lead as Hamlin falls to third and Bowman moves up. Byron also moved up to fourth ahead of Briscoe on the opening lap.
Hamlin repassed Bowman on lap 285 between Turns 1-2.
Briscoe passed Byron for fourth on Lap 306.
Some drivers start pitting on Lap 325. Leader Elliott pits on Lap 327 and comes out in 12th place, still net lead.
A caution is called on Lap 337 for light precipitation with Bell, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Hamlin in the front. Bell, A. Dillon and Elliott pit. Hamlin and Bell cycle to the front with A. Dillon and Elliott behind them.
Hamlin and Bell lead the way on lap 343. Hamlin gets the jump as Bell slots into second and Elliott into third. A. Dillon went to the outside of Elliott to challenge for third. The two remain side by side through the restart laps until Elliot clears on lap 350.
Larson starts challenging A. Dillon for fourth on Lap 351.
Bell dives to the inside of Hamlin for the lead on Lap 364 but did not clear for the lead.
Ross Chastain made contact with the wall on the exit of Turn 2 on Lap 384, bringing out the caution. While the caution was out, rain started falling again. The caution was upgraded to a red flag on Lap 386.
After an hour, we went back to racing with 14 laps to go. Ryan Blaney pitted from eighth and is the highest that opted to pit. Tyler Reddick also pitted from 10th, and came out ahead of Blaney. The top 7 stayed out.
Hamlin, Bell, Elliott and Larson made up the front rows for the restart on Lap 393.
Bell goes sideways again and collects Noah Gragson and Byron, bringing out the caution again. Gragson and Byron were not able to continue, but Bell made it to pit lane for four tyres.
Hamlin, Larson, Elliott and Briscoe are the new front rows for the overtime restart on Lap 399.
Hamlin and Briscoe get the jump on Larson and Elliott but Ryan Preece goes sideways after contact with Zane Smith, sending the race into double overtime.
Hamlin and Briscoe take the front row while Larson and Bowman take row two for the second attempt at overtime.
Hamlin and Briscoe are door to door throughout the last two laps, but Denny Hamlin wins back-to-back races at Dover!
Provisional Results
No. 11 - Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) [FL]
No. 19 - Chase Briscoe (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 48 - Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 5 - Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 54 - Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
No. 23 - Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
No. 17 - Chris Buescher (RFK Racing)
No. 6 - Brad Keselowski (RFK Racing)
No. 8 - Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Motorsports)
No. 45 - Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)
No. 71 - Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports)
No. 22 - Joey Logano (Team Penske)
No. 3 - Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)
No. 2 - Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
No. 7 - Justin Haley (Spire Motorsport)
No. 20 - Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 60 - Ryan Preece (RFK Racing)
No. 10 - Ty Dillon (Kaulig Racing)
No. 42 - John H. Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club) +1 lap
No. 38 - Zane Smith (23XI Racing) +1 lap
No. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Hyak Motorsports) +2 laps
No. 35 - Riley Herbst (23XI Racing) +2 laps
No. 34 - Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports) +2 laps
No. 99 - Daniel Suárez (Trackhouse Motorsports) +3 laps
No. 43 - Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club) +3 laps
No. 21 - Josh Berry (Wood Brothers Racing) +4 laps
No. 41 - Cole Custer (Haas Factory Team) +7 laps
No. 88 - Shane van Gisbergen (Trackhouse Motorsports) +7 laps
No. 24 - William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF]
No. 4 - Noah Gragson (Front Row Motorsports) [DNF]
No. 1 - Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) [DNF]
No. 44 - JJ Yeley (NY Racing Team) [DNF]
No. 77 - Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports) [DNF]
No. 51 - Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing) [DNF]
No. 16 - AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing) [DNF]
Next week is the final round of the in-season challenge; Ty Dillon vs. Ty Gibbs. Be there when NASCAR heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27, at 14:00 EST (19:00 BST).
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