DOVER, Del. – Denny Hamlin survived a lengthy rain delay and double NASCAR Overtime to win Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.

With just 15 laps remaining, the race was placed under a red flag due to rain. Prior to the delay, Hamlin looked as is he was going to outrun Christopher Bell to win; however, little did Hamlin know, he’d have a long way to go before the checkered flag.

“I never thought there was hope that we wouldn’t go back racing,” Hamlin said. “I do think you have two choices with your mentality: you either get out of the car, hope and pray this never goes back green, you just win this thing by weather, or you look at the radar, use your brain and say that we’re going back racing so you better do everything to prepare for what happens when I do get back in this car.

“I just kind of went back to the bus, changed, did a little bit of work, and came back out here and was prepared to get after it when we got back in the car.”

The top-eight drivers stayed out when the race resumed, while those behind pitted for fresh tires. The race went green with just eight laps remaining, but the caution quickly came out when Christopher Bell spun down the frontstretch while battling Hamlin for the lead.

“When we went back, right before we went back, me and Christopher were walking back to our cars,” Hamlin said. “I said, Just don’t wipe me out. I was afraid, we got old tires, I don’t know what the grip level of the track is. I just didn’t want JGR cleaning itself out, somebody else win it.

“I think truthfully he probably laid off of me there off of four and ended up wrecking himself because he didn’t want to have the big contact.”

Once again, the field lined back up, and Hamlin took charge of the race again, but Zane Smith and Ryan Preece crashed on the backstretch before he could cross the line for the white flag.

On the final restart of the day, Chase Briscoe gave Hamlin a run for his money but ultimately came up short. Hamlin piloted the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Progressive Toyota to his fourth victory of the year and the 58^th of his career. With the win, Hamlin became the first driver in 2025 to reach four wins this season.

“Well, things are going pretty well there before the rain,” Hamlin said. “Then obviously had to endure a few restarts there. But yeah, it was tough. Those guys gave me a run for it, no doubt about it.”

He continued and said, “Winning here in Dover is super special to me. This is a place I’ve not been very good at the first half of my career. Having a back-to-back here over the last few years is amazing.”

Briscoe held on to finish runner-up in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota after starting the race shotgun on the front row. He ran up front all race long; however, it was the late-race cautions that placed Briscoe in a winning position.

“Yeah, honestly, I thought I was going to win the race,” Briscoe said. “I was able to stay just beside him (Hamlin) into (turn) one. I thought we were going to have a good shot coming into (turns) one and two. I didn’t think he was going to be able to do that. I almost cleared him off of (turn) two. I thought I timed it right, so I was going to clear him going into (turn) three, just because I had the lane you typically want to be in. He was able to hang right there – another two or three inches and I thought I was going to win the race. He did a great job, obviously there is a reason that guy has won nearly 60-something Cup races. Glad that we were able to have a good finish.”

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished third and fourth respectively. Ty Gibbs finished fifth. Completing the top-10 was polesitter Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski.

In the In-Season Challenge, Ty Dillon (20^th) will advance to the Championship Round after beating John Hunter Nemechek (21^st). Gibbs will also advance to the final round after beating Tyler Reddick, who finished 12^th.

Chase Elliott won Stage 1 and Bell won Stage 2.

Throughout the day, there were 13 lead changes among 10 drivers. Elliott led a race high of 238 laps.

The caution flew on eight occasions for 50 laps.

The NASCAR Cup Series will visit Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG on Sunday, July 27. Live coverage will broadcast on TNT at 2 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Mitchell Richtmyre/TheFourthTurn.com