NASCAR News: Hamlin wins Goodyear 400 at Darlington

Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Darlington Raceway on Throwback Weekend for his second consecutive win.

A perfectly-executed overtime restart by Hamlin following a clutch final pit stop by his Joe Gibbs Racing crew provided exactly the advantage the veteran needed to claim the trophy in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup race.

Hamlin took the race lead out of the pits during the final late race caution then bested the field on the ensuing restart, pulling his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota out front and ultimately to a .597-second victory over the day’s most dominant driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron.

It’s the second-consecutive victory for Hamlin, who won last week at Martinsville, Va. and marks the first time he’s won back-to-back races since 2012 when he won at Bristol, Tenn. then Atlanta the following week.

All smiles as he climbed out the car, Hamlin gave all the credit to his pit crew. He was third place at the time of the final caution – the yellow coming out for Byron’s Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson’s spin. The leaders seized the chance to pit for fresh tires in anticipation of the overtime restart and Hamlin’s crew got him out of the pits first – ahead of 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Byron.

A perfect launch on the ensuing green flag gave Hamlin the victory over Byron, who led a race best 243 of the 297 laps. It is Hamlin’s 56th career win, breaking a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 11th place on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.

“There’s two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson,’’ the 44-year-old Virginian Hamlin said with a grin. “Had a little assist there, so thank you.

“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 obviously a tough ending to a career day for Byron, who rallied to the runner-up finish on the final restart but had absolutely dominated the early race, leading the opening 243 laps and claiming both Stage 1 and Stage 2 victories. It was the most laps Byron has ever led in a single race.

“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,’’ the 2025 DAYTONA 500 winner 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.’’

Hamlin’s JGR teammate Christopher Bell finished third in the No. 20 Toyota after an amazing rally forward from a 20th place starting position. Reddick finished fourth in the 23XI Racing Toyota, co-owned by Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney finished fifth. It is the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion’s first top-five at the 1.366-mile historic track, but the result still stings as Blaney had just taken the race lead moments before the final caution came out with only three laps of regulation remaining.

“Oh no,’’ Blaney conceded of his thoughts when the yellow flag flew.

“I thought we had the race won. I don’t really know I’ll have to watch a replay and see how the yellow came out and watch it back. But we did a great job and great strategy call of running long.

“Great call and just really fast but never got to really control the race,’’ he added … I feel like nothing really went our way. Pit road we’ve got to work on a little bit. Caution coming out during the cycle set us way back and I feel like we kept making up spots. Really proud of the 12 folks for giving me a fast car. Just wasn’t meant to be. I really would have liked to have won here. That would have been really neat. Proud of the effort and we’ll keep plugging along.’’

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher finished sixth, followed by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott, JGR’s Ty Gibbs and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch. It was a season-best effort for Gibbs.

Byron’s runner-up showing keeps him in the NASCAR Cup Series championship lead now by 49 points over Hamlin and 52 points over Bell. It’s a different look atop the standings, where all four Hendrick Motorsports cars were ranked among the top five.

Hendrick’s Chase Elliott finished eighth Sunday and is now fourth in the standings, 59 points back. Larson dropped to sixth place after finishing 37th of the 38 cars Sunday. Bowman is now ranked 10th with a 35th place showing at Darlington.

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the famed Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway high banks next weekend for Sunday’s Food City 500

Top-3 Quotes

A week ago you dominate the race. This week your pit crew gets you off first. Was there ever a doubt in your mind that you were going to win this after they did that?

DENNY HAMLIN: There’s two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson. Had a little assist there, so thank you.

Man, the pit crew just did an amazing job. They won it last week. They won it this week. It’s all about them. Thanks Sport Clips. They have such a big deal here in Darlington, South Carolina. Shout-out to Gordon and the whole team. We’ll see you at Victory Lane.

Any backflip for you?

DENNY HAMLIN: I’ll pass. If Carl is here, he’s more than welcome to jump off the car.

William Byron, we wondered whether you would have a perfect race. The pit cycles, green flag stops. What a dominant car. What do you take away from this?

WILLIAM BYRON: First off, really proud of my team, bringing that level of effort and preparation, have a car like that. For us to execute like that, it was looking like it was going to be a perfect race. We were going to lead every lap. Was really proud of that.

Those guys could be aggressive on the other side of the green flag cycle, we lost control there. Once we lost control, too late in the going to kind of get back up there.

Yeah, it sucks. I’m sure it will sting a lot tonight. There’s still a lot of positives. It stings in the moment, for sure.

You finally get the lead, the caution comes out. What goes through your mind at that point?

RYAN BLANEY: Oh, no. I thought we finally had the race won. I don’t really know. Have to watch the replay of how that yellow came out, watch it back.

We did a good job. Great strategy call of kind of running long, giving us time to get down, run down the 45, a lot of those guys that short pitted. It was a great call.

Great car. Great Dutch Boy Menards Ford Mustang. Really fast.

Never really got to control the race. I feel like nothing ever really went our way. Pit road, we got to work on a little bit. Caution coming out during the cycle set us way back. I felt like we just kept making up spots.

Really proud of the 12 folks for giving me a fast car. Just really wasn’t meant to be. I really wanted and would have liked to have won here. That would have been really neat. Just wasn’t meant to be. Proud of the effort. We’ll keep plugging along.

NASCAR Darlington Goodyear 400 Results

Average Speed of Race Winner:  120.965 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 21 Mins, 14 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .597 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  8 for 45 laps.

Lead Changes:  4 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   W. Byron 1-243;D. Hamlin 244-247;T. Reddick 248-289;R. Blaney 290-291;D. Hamlin 292-297.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  William Byron 1 time for 243 laps; Tyler Reddick 1 time for 42 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 10 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 24,23,60,17,45,6,12,2,38,16

Stage #2 Top Ten: 24,22,11,12,21,20,54,10,45,48