Denny Hamlin tames the Monster Mile with genius driving exhibition

Denny Hamlin won at Dover Motor Speedway in a race filled with drama in the closing laps. This win marks his fourth of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series and a back-to-back at the Monster Mile in Delaware.

Starting in 13th position, Denny Hamlin made progress to the front early in the race. The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished the first and second stages in third. During the third stage, he was racing against teammate Christopher Bell when Ross Chastain crashed on his own on lap 384, which brought out the caution.

The caution was raised to a red flag a lap later due to heavy rain. After almost an hour of stoppage, Hamlin continued his fight with Bell for the lead when the latter spun out with seven laps remaining. On the restart, the #11 driver held off his other teammate, Chase Briscoe, before taking the checkered flag with a 0.31-second win margin.

Express US Sports shared the news on X and wrote:

“Denny Hamlin wins again at Dover after a rain delay and multiple cautions in the waning moments.”

Denny Hamlin is now the driver with the most wins this year, breaking the tie with Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Shane van Gisbergen. He has also scored 10 top-5s and 11 top-10s to rank fourth in the standings, with Chase Elliott, who started the race at Dover on the pole position, taking the top seed from William Byron.

Hamlin's next stop is in Indiana for 160 laps of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He has yet to win on the 2.5-mile track and had a DNF in last year's Brickyard 400 after getting involved in a multi-car crash on the first overtime restart.

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“This is the place that I'm not been very good at”: Denny Hamlin on winning at Dover after struggling in his early years

Denny Hamlin admitted he wasn't performing competitively in the early days of his career at Dover Motor Speedway. However, he has found success in recent years after learning the track from some of the top drivers, including seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr.

In a post-race interview, the now 58-time Cup race winner said:

“Winning here in Dover is super special to me. This is the place that I'm not been very good at... the first half of my career. And then, to head back-to-back here the last few years is amazing.” “I just studied some of the greats here. I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex (Jr.) as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him 10 times here. You learn from the greats, and you change your game to match it, and you can have success like this,” he added.

Denny Hamlin started his rookie season with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2006. His maiden win at Dover Motor Speedway came in 2020 when he led the most laps and held off Martin Truex Jr. The JGR driver previously won the 2024 edition of the Miles Monster Cup Series and returned to the victory lane for the second consecutive time on Sunday, July 20.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua