The EchoPark Automotive 400 culminated with Denny Hamlin surviving rain delays, overtime restarts, and a hard-charging teammate to claim victory. Hamlin led 67 of the race’s 407 laps, stretched out by two overtime restarts, and it was that last lap where he dug deepest, pulling off a daring move to edge past Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe for his 58th career win.
“Things were going well before the rain… That was tough, those guys gave me a run for it,” Hamlin said after the triumph, adding, “Winning here at Dover is super special to me.” Briscoe had snatched the lead on the last restart, but Hamlin’s grit shone through as he fought back to the front, leaving Briscoe in second on his bumper. While his epic showing to defend his Dover crown was remarkable, Hamlin was not always the master of the Monster Mile.
In Denny Hamlin’s career, he has 3 wins and 16 top-10 finishes at Dover, but 11 of those top-10s have come after 2015! Debuting in 2006, Hamlin initially struggled to conquer the track, and after his third triumph, he revealed what helped him over the years, paying tribute to a special driver. Hamlin got reflective, saying, “Well, I just studied some of the greats here. Very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win ten times here. You learn from the greats.”
Denny does it again at Dover!@dennyhamlin holds on for another @MonsterMile win! pic.twitter.com/NHnlMXb210
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 20, 2025
Martin Truex Jr. donned the Joe Gibbs Racing #19 from 2019 to 2024, picking up 2 wins and 6 top-3 finishes in 8 races at Dover for JGR! Mind-boggling numbers that make up a career total of 4 wins and 11 top-5 finishes at Dover for MTJ. Jimmie Johnson, meanwhile, is the king of Dover, netting 11 wins across his career, including a season sweep in his rookie campaign! However, the one difference between Hamlin and these guys is a championship, and with a series-leading 4 wins, could this be the year for Denny? When asked if getting to 60 wins this season was still a goal, Denny replied, “We got a lot left,” signifying ambitions beyond that 60-win mark.
As for the results at Dover, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five, keeping the finish line buzzing. Rain threw a curveball with two delays, including a 56-minute red flag and a final 10-lap shootout that tested everyone’s nerves. Christopher Bell put up a fierce fight, leading 67 laps himself, but spins during restarts, once early in the final stage and again in the last 10 laps, dropped him to 18th. Denny Hamlin also made history in the end by becoming the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win back-to-back Dover races.
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