Late Caution, Fast Pit Stop Lead Hamlin to Goodyear 400 Triumph

With a clutch pit stop from his Joe Gibbs Racing crew, Denny Hamlin pulled off a surprise overtime victory in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Hamlin led just 10 laps in Sunday's event at Darlington, a stark contrast from his domination at Martinsville Speedway one week ago. However, a well-timed caution and a great pit stop put Hamlin in front of the field for the overtime restart.

From there, Hamlin held off the likes of William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney for his second win in a row, and the 56th of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Race Results: 2025 Goodyear 400 at Darlington

The caution flag flew on lap 291 as Kyle Larson spun after contact with Bubba Wallace. This yellow flag came just moments after Blaney passed Reddick for the lead, poised for his first career win at Darlington.

Instead, Blaney was the fourth car off pit road, with Hamlin, Reddick and Byron all surpassing him as the field dove to the attention of their crews for fresh tires ahead of the overtime restart. That track position proved valuable for Hamlin, as he distanced himself from an intense battle for second behind him.

"There’s two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson," said Hamlin. "Had a little assist there, so thank you.

"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 to Sport Clips. They have such a big deal here in Darlington, South Carolina. Shout out to Gordon and the whole team. We’ll see you at Victory Lane."

Byron finished second in the race, but had dominated the event prior to a long green-flag run in the final stage. He led the first 243 laps before his green-flag stop. Hamlin briefly led before also entering the pits, giving the lead to Reddick.

Ultimately, Byron settled for a second-place finish in the Goodyear 400. While the dominant showing added to his points lead in the championship standings, Byron couldn't help but feel the sting of missing out on a win.

"First off, really proud of my team, bringing that level of effort and preparation, have a car like that," said Byron. "For us to execute like that, it was looking like it was going to be a perfect race. We were going to lead every lap. I was really proud of that.

"Those guys could be aggressive on the other side of the green flag cycle, we lost control there. Once we lost control, it was too late in the going to kind of get back up there.

"Yeah, it sucks. I’m sure it will sting a lot tonight. There’s still a lot of positives. It stings in the moment, for sure."

After having the win in his sights, Blaney instead finished fifth in the race. A later pit stop in the green-flag cycle gave him fresh tires and the ability to charge through the field and chase down Reddick before the ill-timed caution.

"I thought we finally had the race won," said Blaney. "I don’t really know. Have to watch the replay of how that yellow came out, watch it back.

"We did a good job. Great strategy call of kind of running long, giving us time to get down, run down the 45, a lot of those guys that short pitted. It was a great call.

"Really proud of the 12 folks for giving me a fast car. Just really wasn’t meant to be. I really wanted and would have liked to have won here. That would have been really neat. Just wasn’t meant to be. Proud of the effort. We’ll keep plugging along."

Next week, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500. The race on Sunday, April 13 will start at 3 p.m. ET, with coverage on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Matthew T. Thacker, LAT for Toyota Gazoo Racing