Denny Hamlin picked up his third win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season on Sunday, holding off Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. in the Würth 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Hamlin made a shrewd move to cut off Larson and Alex Bowman coming off of pit road, and after a crash involving Christopher Bell, William Byron and Bubba Wallace late in the race, he jumped out in front of the race restart.
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With 16 laps to go, Larson got within a half second of Hamlin. With two laps to go, the No. 5 was about 0.25 seconds behind Hamlin. But there was just no catching the No. 11.
Hamlin was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos as he got out of his car.
“I think the key moment really was, you know, Kyle did a really good job executing on the green flag pit cycle, and then we were able to get the lead there on that restart, which allowed us, with the caution, to control the restart,” Hamlin told Fox Sports’ Regan Smith. “Certainly feels good to win here at Dover.
Hamlin’s win at the Würth 400 was the 54th of his career. He moved into a tie with Lee Petty for 12th all-time. His third win ties Byron for the most on the season.
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“It’s just fantastic,” Hamlin said of tying Petty. “I couldn’t hold Lee Petty’s helmet. I’ve been blessed with a great race team. … Everyone who supports the 11 car, they’re the ones who make it happen. I’m the lucky one who gets to drive it.”
Hamlin led 136 of the 400 laps at the track known as “The Monster Mile.”
He won at Richmond and Bristol earlier this season and already looks to be in playoff form.
Larson, even with the second-place finish, will maintain first place in the driver standings. Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott finished behind Truex to round out the top five. Noah Gragson, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Daniel Hemric and Ty Gibbs finished in the top 10.
Truex won last year’s Dover spring race.
Next week, the NASCAR season heads to Kansas Speedway.
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