NASCAR
Denny Hamlin Takes Third Win of 2024 at Dover, Career Victory #54
DOVER, Del. – The Monster Mile trophy goes home with Denny Hamlin after a dominant second half at Dover. The No. 11 Toyota was best in class for Stage 3, leading 136 of the race’s final 147 laps. Team 11 now has a pair of Dover wins, and seem as much a weekly threat as anyone.
Trying to keep the Truex brothers undefeated at Dover, Martin Truex Jr took command late in Stage 1. The No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota nearly remained perfect through Stage 2 as well, but lost ground on pit road to Kyle Larson. The No. 5 Chevrolet took the second Stage win after starting 21st.
Denny Hamlin took command for the first time just edging Larson and Alex Bowman off pit road before Stage 3. The No. 11 Toyota rocketed off on the restart and quickly built up a large lead.
Lapped traffic allowed Larson to catch back up though over the closing laps. Larson couldn’t ever quite get close enough to Hamlin’s bumper however. Thanks to air blocking, Larson ended up a few tenths behind at the checkered flag.
“Just a great team,” Hamlin said. “This whole Mavis Tires and Brakes team did a great job. All the guys on the wall right here, they’re the ones that make it happen. Thank you to them. Chris Gabehart, the whole team for just giving me great cars. Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, Shady Rays, Coca-Cola. Man, just a great partnership with all. Man, I love winning.”
“I think the key moment really was Kyle did a great job executing on that green flag pit stop. Then we were able to get the lead on the restart, which allowed us with a caution to control the restart. That was the key moment for us. Man, certainly feels good winning here at Dover.”
A second Dover victory and third of 2024 puts Hamlin in rarified air. 54 wins ties NASCAR Hall of Famer and three time champion Lee Petty for 12th on the NASCAR Cup Series’ all-time win list.
“It’s fantastic. I couldn’t hold Lee Petty’s helmet. I’ve been blessed with a great race team. This whole FedEx team, Mavis team, Sport Clips, everyone that supports this 11 car, they’re the ones that make it happen. I’m the lucky one that gets to drive it.”
Hamlin’s victory is also his second time calling his shot. Earlier this week on Actions Detrimental, Hamlin said they would win at Dover. Driver 11 made a similar claim prior to taking Joe Gibbs Racing’s 100th Cup victory at New Hampshire in 2012.
Behind Hamlin and Larson at the checkers were Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott. The rest of the top-10 were Noah Gragson, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Daniel Hemric, and Ty Gibbs. Hear from some of these drivers below.
Hamlin will be chasing another victory next week as the defending race winner at Kansas. The AdventHealth 400 goes green Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Kansas has been a Toyota stranglehold in recent years, can another manufacturer possibly end their domination?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
