Race report
NASCAR Cup Darlington
Denny Hamlin goes back-to-back, winning Darlington Cup race in overtime
Staying off the radar all day, Hamlin seemingly came out of nowhere to win Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway.
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Apr 7, 2025, 1:40 AM
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Denny Hamlin now has 56 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, but it was not a dominant showing like his Martinsville victory just one week ago. Driving a throwback scheme paying tribute to Carl Edwards, Hamlin earned his fifth win at the track 'too tough to tame', in a race that was ultimately won via pit road.
First, a well-timed caution mid-race netted Hamlin a lot of track position and put him up into the top five. He was able to lap within the top five for the remainder of the race, surging from third to first on pit road during the final pit stop of the event. In the end, Hamlin led just ten laps — in a race where William Byron was up front for more than 240.
"There's two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson. Had a little assist there, so thank you," said Hamlin, poke fun at what caused the final caution of the race. "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 ... We'll see you at Victory Lane."
This is the first time Hamlin has won back-to-back Cup races since the 2012 season. When asked if there would be any Edwards-inspired backflip, Hamlin laughed. "I'll pass. If Carl is here, he's more than welcome to jump off the car." Edwards also waved the green flag to officially start Sunday's race.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
Byron and Blaney come up empty handed after stellar showings
Byron initially looked unstoppable, leading the first 243 laps unopposed. However, a round of green-flag pit stops halfway through the final stage completely changed the complexion of the race. Tyler Reddick, who pitted a few laps earlier than most of the leaders, ended up taking control with a comfortable lead. Byron was stuck behind Christopher Bell, while Ryan Blaney was flying, with the freshest tires after running longer than most others.
Blaney eventually ran down Reddick and the two briefly battled for the lead before Blaney got the upper hand. A quick chain of events that immediately followed completely changed the outcome once again. As Blaney passed Reddick, the 23XI Racing driver ran wide and pancaked the wall. Right behind him, Kyle Larson, who was running over 160 laps down after an earlier incident, checked up and spun off the nose of Bubba Wallace. As he crashed into the inside wall, it forced a yellow flag and pushed the race into overtime.
Watch: Ryan Blaney on Darlington heartbreak: 'I thought we had the race won'
At that point, it all came down to pit road where Blaney's team had struggled all day. Again, he lost some spots, fall from first to fourth while Hamlin jumped into the lead. He lined up next the car he co-owns with Michael Jordan [Reddick], who was looking on anxiously from the pits. Hamlin proceeded to get a fantastic restart and that was essentially the end of it, leaving the rest of the field to sort it out for the lesser positions.
Byron fought his way back to second, Bell was third, Reddick fourth, and Blaney fifth. Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top ten.
Read Also:
NASCAR CupDarlington shocker as Kyle Larson wrecks early in NASCAR Cup race
NASCAR CupRyan Blaney: "Nothing ever really went our way" in Darlington Cup race
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Pits Points 1 D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 297
3:21'14.118
9 48 2 W. ByronHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 297
+0.597
3:21'14.715
0.597 9 56 3 C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 297
+1.108
3:21'15.226
0.511 11 39 4 T. Reddick23XI Racing 45 Toyota 297
+1.197
3:21'15.315
0.089 11 41 5 R. BlaneyTeam Penske 12 Ford 297
+1.634
3:21'15.752
0.437 11 43 6 C. BuescherRFK Racing 17 Ford 297
+1.833
3:21'15.951
0.199 11 38 7 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 297
+2.006
3:21'16.124
0.173 9 30 8 C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 297
+2.191
3:21'16.309
0.185 11 29 9 T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota 297
+2.256
3:21'16.374
0.065 10 32 10 K. BuschRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 297
+2.412
3:21'16.530
0.156 9 27 11 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford 297
+2.689
3:21'16.807
0.277 9 29 12 Z. SmithFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford 297
+2.730
3:21'16.848
0.041 9 27 13 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford 297
+2.941
3:21'17.059
0.211 10 33 14 T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 297
+3.073
3:21'17.191
0.132 9 23 15 D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 297
+3.251
3:21'17.369
0.178 10 22 16 T. DillonKaulig Racing 10 Chevrolet 297
+3.717
3:21'17.835
0.466 11 24 17 E. JonesLegacy Motor Club 43 Toyota 297
+3.770
3:21'17.888
0.053 11 20 18 A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 297
+3.805
3:21'17.923
0.035 9 20 19 N. GragsonFront Row Motorsports 4 Ford 297
+4.065
3:21'18.183
0.260 10 18 20 S. van GisbergenTrackHouse Racing 88 Chevrolet 297
+4.274
3:21'18.392
0.209 11 17 21 B. Wallace23XI Racing 23 Toyota 297
+4.406
3:21'18.524
0.132 10 25 22 C. CusterHaas Factory Team 41 Ford 297
+7.529
3:21'21.647
3.123 10 15 23 A. DillonRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 297
+8.050
3:21'22.168
0.521 9 14 24 J. HaleySpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 297
+8.865
3:21'22.983
0.815 10 13 25 R. Stenhouse JrHyak Motorsports 47 Chevrolet 297
+9.748
3:21'23.866
0.883 9 12 26 R. PreeceRFK Racing 60 Ford 297
+11.103
3:21'25.221
1.355 8 19 27 C. WareRick Ware Racing 51 Ford 297
+11.681
3:21'25.799
0.578 11 10 28 C. BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 297
+12.313
3:21'26.431
0.632 10 9 29 M. McDowellSpire Motorsports 71 Chevrolet 297
+26.832
3:21'40.950
14.519 9 8 30 J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club 42 Toyota 297
+42.279
3:21'56.397
15.447 8 7 31 A. HillRichard Childress Racing 33 Chevrolet 296
+1 Lap
3:21'20.701
1 Lap 10 32 C. HocevarSpire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet 296
+1 Lap
3:21'25.726
5.025 10 5 33 B. KeselowskiRFK Racing 6 Ford 295
+2 Laps
3:21'22.472
1 Lap 10 9 34 R. Herbst23XI Racing 35 Toyota 295
+2 Laps
3:21'24.298
1.826 12 3 35 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 280
+17 Laps
3:21'34.859
15 Laps 11 3 36
J. BerryWood Brothers Racing
21 Ford 194
+103 Laps
2:15'21.419
86 Laps 9 7 37 K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 122
+175 Laps
3:13'27.134
72 Laps 11 1 38 J. YeleyNY Racing Team 44 Chevrolet 30
+267 Laps
26'27.295
92 Laps 4 1
Photos from Darlington - Race
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NASCAR Cup
51
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