DOVER, Del. (AP) — Denny Hamlin balked when a surfboard he was asked to sign for charity was placed on the floor. At his age, Hamlin cracked, he might not be able to get back up. The 44-year-old driver had similar aging concerns a night earlier when the picture on the TV he watched as he started to doze off seemed a bit fuzzy.

“I’m not losing my eyesight am I?” Hamlin said.

Hamlin’s vision was on point Sunday at Dover — his sights set firmly on victory lane.

Hamlin can eliminate distractions and succeed like few drivers in the series can can do: He shook off a setback in his court battle with NASCAR, shrugged off old tire concerns once he took a late lead ahead of a rain delay, and survived a late charge from his teammate to go back-to-back at Dover Motor Speedway for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s series-best fourth victory of the season.

“I just love that I’m able to still do it at a high level,” Hamlin said. “Every morning when I wake up, I just hope I still got what I had yesterday.”

Hamlin won in the No. 11 Toyota for the second straight time at Dover to add to wins this season at Martinsville, Darlington and Michigan.

Hamlin has 58 NASCAR Cup Series victories, leaving him two short of Kevin Harvick for 10th on the career list. The veteran Virginia driver might hit that mark this season as he chases his first career Cup championship.

Hamlin is on NASCAR’s short list of greatest drivers to never win a championship. He won’t let the void on an otherwise stellar resume full of Hall of Fame credentials define how he feels about his career.

Hamlin says, it’s trophies, not titles, not he celebrates the most

“If we do, we do. If we don’t, we don’t,” Hamlin said. “I care about wins. I want more trophies, more trophies, more trophies. When I’m done, I want to be in the list of that top-10 all-time winners. That will mean more than any other accomplishment.”

Hamlin took the checkered flag days after he suffered a setback in court with his own 23XI Racing team’s federal antitrust suit against NASCAR.

On Thursday, a federal judge rejected a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue racing with charters while they battle NASCAR in court, meaning their six cars will race as open entries this weekend at Dover, next week at Indianapolis and perhaps longer than that in a move the teams say would put them at risk of going out of business.

Hamlin vowed this weekend “all will be exposed” if the case goes to its scheduled Dec. 1 trial date.

The courtroom drama hasn’t affected Hamlin’s performance on the track. Hamlin held off JGR teammate Chase Briscoe for the victory. Hendrick Motorsports drivers took the next two spots, with Alex Bowman third and Kyle Larson fourth.

“I thought I did everything I needed to,” Briscoe said. “I thought I had him there for a second. I wish the Camry, the back, was about 3 inches shorter. I was so close to clearing him. I just couldn’t do it. Obviously, racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won.”

Hamlin held off Kyle Larson down the stretch last season to earn the second of his three career wins at the Monster Mile.

The first July Cup race at Dover since 1969 started with steamy weather and drivers battled the conditions inside the car during a relatively clean race until rain fell late and red-flagged the race with 14 laps left. Hamlin said the during the break changed his firesuit — temperatures inside the car soared to 140 degrees, and sweat kept dripping inside his visor.

He also returned to the car after the 56-minute delay with old tires. Hamlin — who was the betting favorite to win, per BETMGM Sportsbook —- had enough to win on cool tires at Dover and park the Toyota in victory lane.

There was never any real consideration to pit with the lead for fresh tires.

“We need wins,” crew chief Chris Gayle said. “How can we manufacture some way to give ourselves more opportunity for that to happen? Might not pan out, but we definitely weren’t going to do it doing the same thing as everybody else. That was our train of thought there and thankfully it worked out and we held on.”

He became the 19th Cup driver to win three times at Dover and the 13th driver to win consecutive races on the mile concrete track.

“I just studied some of the greats here,” Hamlin said. “I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win (11) times here. You learn from the greats and you change your game to match it, you have success like this.”

In-season challenge

The Tys have it in NASCAR.

It’s Ty Gibbs vs. Ty Dillon next week at Indianapolis to decide the first winner in NASCAR’s $1 million mid-season tournament.

NASCAR seeded 32 drivers for the first In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Both drivers are winless and Dillon made it as the No. 32 seed. Gibbs finished fifth Sunday for JGR.

John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick were eliminated.

Logano’s 600th

Joey Logano finished 14th for Team Penske in his 600th career start.

Logano has made every start since the 2009, 597 straight, putting him within striking distance of Jeff Gordon’s Cup record of 797 straight starts.

Logano was 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday, making him the youngest driver to reach that milestone. He topped seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months.

Petty is the only driver to have won his 600th start.

Up next

It’s off to Indianapolis Motor Speedway where
Kyle Larson won last season
on the oval after a four-year break on the road course.

___

AP auto racing:
https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Denny Hamlin balked when a surfboard he was asked to sign for charity was placed on the floor. At his age, Hamlin cracked, he might not be able to get back up. The 44-year-old driver had similar aging concerns a night earlier when the picture on the TV he watched as he started to doze off seemed a bit fuzzy.

“I’m not losing my eyesight am I?” Hamlin said.

Hamlin’s vision was on point Sunday at Dover — his sights set firmly on victory lane.

Hamlin can eliminate distractions and succeed like few drivers in the series can can do: He shook off a setback in his court battle with NASCAR, shrugged off old tire concerns once he took a late lead ahead of a rain delay, and survived a late charge from his teammate to go back-to-back at Dover Motor Speedway for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s series-best fourth victory of the season.

“I just love that I’m able to still do it at a high level,” Hamlin said. “Every morning when I wake up, I just hope I still got what I had yesterday.”

Hamlin won in the No. 11 Toyota for the second straight time at Dover to add to wins this season at Martinsville, Darlington and Michigan.

Hamlin has 58 NASCAR Cup Series victories, leaving him two short of Kevin Harvick for 10th on the career list. The veteran Virginia driver might hit that mark this season as he chases his first career Cup championship.

Hamlin is on NASCAR’s short list of greatest drivers to never win a championship. He won’t let the void on an otherwise stellar resume full of Hall of Fame credentials define how he feels about his career.

Hamlin says, it’s trophies, not titles, not he celebrates the most

“If we do, we do. If we don’t, we don’t,” Hamlin said. “I care about wins. I want more trophies, more trophies, more trophies. When I’m done, I want to be in the list of that top-10 all-time winners. That will mean more than any other accomplishment.”

Hamlin took the checkered flag days after he suffered a setback in court with his own 23XI Racing team’s federal antitrust suit against NASCAR.

On Thursday, a federal judge rejected a request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to continue racing with charters while they battle NASCAR in court, meaning their six cars will race as open entries this weekend at Dover, next week at Indianapolis and perhaps longer than that in a move the teams say would put them at risk of going out of business.

Hamlin vowed this weekend “all will be exposed” if the case goes to its scheduled Dec. 1 trial date.

The courtroom drama hasn’t affected Hamlin’s performance on the track. Hamlin held off JGR teammate Chase Briscoe for the victory. Hendrick Motorsports drivers took the next two spots, with Alex Bowman third and Kyle Larson fourth.

“I thought I did everything I needed to,” Briscoe said. “I thought I had him there for a second. I wish the Camry, the back, was about 3 inches shorter. I was so close to clearing him. I just couldn’t do it. Obviously, racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won.”

Hamlin held off Kyle Larson down the stretch last season to earn the second of his three career wins at the Monster Mile.

The first July Cup race at Dover since 1969 started with steamy weather and drivers battled the conditions inside the car during a relatively clean race until rain fell late and red-flagged the race with 14 laps left. Hamlin said the during the break changed his firesuit — temperatures inside the car soared to 140 degrees, and sweat kept dripping inside his visor.

He also returned to the car after the 56-minute delay with old tires. Hamlin — who was the betting favorite to win, per BETMGM Sportsbook —- had enough to win on cool tires at Dover and park the Toyota in victory lane.

There was never any real consideration to pit with the lead for fresh tires.

“We need wins,” crew chief Chris Gayle said. “How can we manufacture some way to give ourselves more opportunity for that to happen? Might not pan out, but we definitely weren’t going to do it doing the same thing as everybody else. That was our train of thought there and thankfully it worked out and we held on.”

He became the 19th Cup driver to win three times at Dover and the 13th driver to win consecutive races on the mile concrete track.

“I just studied some of the greats here,” Hamlin said. “I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win (11) times here. You learn from the greats and you change your game to match it, you have success like this.”

In-season challenge

The Tys have it in NASCAR.

It’s Ty Gibbs vs. Ty Dillon next week at Indianapolis to decide the first winner in NASCAR’s $1 million mid-season tournament.

NASCAR seeded 32 drivers for the first In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Both drivers are winless and Dillon made it as the No. 32 seed. Gibbs finished fifth Sunday for JGR.

John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick were eliminated.

Logano’s 600th

Joey Logano finished 14th for Team Penske in his 600th career start.

Logano has made every start since the 2009, 597 straight, putting him within striking distance of Jeff Gordon’s Cup record of 797 straight starts.

Logano was 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday, making him the youngest driver to reach that milestone. He topped seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months.

Petty is the only driver to have won his 600th start.

Up next

It’s off to Indianapolis Motor Speedway where Kyle Larson won last season on the oval after a four-year break on the road course.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Denny Hamlin prevailed in Sunday’s EchoPark AutoTrader 400 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway – a race that featured a 56-minute red flag for rain, late-race strategy decisions, and involved a pair of overtime restarts before the trophy was ultimately settled between a pair of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.

But the veteran Hamlin got it all right when it mattered most, getting a jump on the field in both overtime restarts and in the end holding off his newest teammate Chase Briscoe who was even on fresher tires. It marks back-to-back wins at the Dover concrete-mile for Hamlin and a NASCAR Cup Series-best fourth victory of 2025.

“Things were going pretty well there before the rain and then obviously had to endure a few restarts there,’’ said a smiling Hamlin, 44, who collected his 58th career victory and first trophy since the birth of his son, Jameson last month. “It was tough, those guys gave me a run for it, no doubt about it.’’

“Winning here at Dover is super special to me,’’ he continued. “This is a place I had not been very good at the first half of my career and then to have back-to-back (wins) here the last couple years is amazing.’’

Briscoe certainly pushed Hamlin on that final two-lap sprint to the checkered flag. The two ran door-to-door on the white flag lap – their cars even making slight contact – before Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota Camry was able to pull around and clear Briscoe’s car, racing off to a .310-second victory and become only the 13th driver in track history to win consecutive races.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished third and fourth with another JGR driver, Ty Gibbs rounding out the top five.

For most of the day, it looked as if Hendrick’s Chase Elliott would continue a summer hot streak and claim his second race win in the last four weeks. He led a race best 238 of the 407 laps – taking his first stage win of the season and overcoming an early pit road miscue. But he just wasn’t able to challenge Hamlin.

There was some consolation in Elliott’s sixth place finish, however, as it – combined with teammate William Byron’s accident with two laps remining in regulation – now gives Elliott a 17-point championship lead over Byron with five races remaining in the regular season. It’s the first time he’s led the championship this year.

Elliott led so many laps and essentially controlled race pace, but it was a cycle of pit stops that gave Hamlin opportunity out front. He cycled to the lead when Elliott pit for tires during a caution beating his JGR teammate Christopher Bell on a restart with 60 laps remaining. Hamlin held the lead position when the 56-minute red flag came out for rain with 15 laps to go.

And after all that had to hold off Briscoe on consecutive overtime restarts – ultimately leading the final 67 laps.

“I thought I did everything I needed to and thought I had it there for a second,’’ Briscoe said. “I was so close to clearing him and just couldn’t do it. Obviously racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won. Honestly it was a great day. We weren’t probably a second place race car, we were probably fifth to 10th place car. Glad we were able to make a good finish out of it.’’

Behind Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

While the top of the championship standings changed with Elliott taking the lead, the four drivers – Reddick, Bowman, Buescher and Wallace – still chasing a points-position in the 16-driver Playoff remained the same. Wallace’s seventh-place finish gives him a 16-point edge on Ryan Preece for that 16th and final transfer position. Kyle Busch, who finished 11th Sunday, is now 39 points behind Wallace.

The race also set the “In-Season Challenge” championship round next week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Gibbs and longshot Ty Dillon advancing to the title round.

Gibbs was paired against Tyler Reddick at Dover and Dillon had to beat John Hunter Nemechek in the other bracket to settle the final two positions for $1 million to-win grand finale of the inaugural incentive program presented by TNT.

In both head-to-head battles, the two drivers ran near each other all afternoon. Gibbs got around Reddick in the closing laps and Dillon benefitted from a “lucky dog” late race pass – he and Nemechek finished 20th and 21st.

“Super cool today, I really appreciate my team.” Gibbs said smiling.

Dillon, who drives the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was similarly ecstatic for the opportunity. He was seeded 32nd among the 32 drivers to qualify for the In-Season Tournament and had to race past drivers like Hamlin in earlier rounds.

“All respect to John Hunter we ran next to each other all day,’’ a thrilled Dillon said. “Just so grateful to have this opportunity and this is one of the greatest things to happen in my career.”

Race Results

Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin has won the EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway after putting up a stellar defence in double overtime.

Hamlin survived a late charge from his teammate Chase Briscoe on fresher tires to take his fourth Cup Series victory of the season and the 58th of his career, which leaves him sitting alone in 11th on the Cup Series’ all-time wins list.

READ MORE: Joe Gibbs Racing hit with double NASCAR penalty at Dover

It was an eventful afternoon at Dover, with the action having been halted twice due to rain, including a lengthy delay with 13 laps to go. When the action did get back underway, the No. 11 kept its cool out front, surviving separate challenges from both Christopher Bell and Briscoe to ensure he was the driver to take the black and white checkered flag.

Briscoe ultimately came home in second, but Bell finished way down in 18th following a spin when challenging Hamlin for the lead and a subsequent speeding penalty.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day in the end for Chase Elliott. Despite winning stage one and leading the race for 238 laps in total, the Hendrick Motorsports star could only manage sixth in the end, with the likes of Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and even Ty Gibbs having got ahead of him in the final laps.

Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10 at Dover, and elsewhere, Ty Dillon and Ty Gibbs advanced in the In-Season Challenge, with the two drivers now set to battle it out for $1 million at Indianapolis next weekend.

With all of that said, let’s take a look at the race results in full below.

READ MORE: NASCAR champion Joey Logano confirms Cup Series retirement verdict

NASCAR Cup Series: Who won the Dover race today?

NASCAR Cup Series: Dover Stage 2 results

NASCAR Cup Series: Dover Stage 1 results

READ MORE: Full-time driver leaves NASCAR team with immediate effect

Related