DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin shut down a hard-charging Kyle Larson to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover on Sunday.
Hamlin beat Larson on pit road by an eyelash on a late race stop under caution to take the lead. Larson was the most dominant car in the race up to that point.
In the closing laps, Larson raced his way to Hamlin's bumper but could not make the pass as the No. 11 driver held on for his third win of 2024.
"[My] team did a great job," Hamlin said after the race. "They're the ones that make it all happen... It feels good to win here at Dover."
Larson said losing the lead on the last restart severely hurt his chances to end the day with a win.
"It's so easy to air block here... not that [Hamlin] was doing anything dirty," Larson said. "I knew when I got within three car lengths he was going to start moving around. I couldn't do anything."
Kyle Busch started on the pole and led the first 30 laps before Ryan Blaney took over the top spot. Todd Gilliland brought out the first caution on lap 39 for a spin.
William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. traded the lead as stage one closed. Brad Keselowski spun out on his own, bringing out a caution that ended the first stage with Truex in front.
Kyle Larson prevailed with the lead after green flag pit stops in stage two. Larson was the dominant car for most of the race until Hamlin edged him on pit road during the stage two break caution.
From there, Hamlin used clean air to his advantage to hold on to the lead for the rest of the race.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked on his own on lap 321 while most of the field was trapped a lap down because of green flag pit stops. Most of the lapped cars took the wave around to get back on the lead lap, leaving several contenders in the back of the field on the ensuing restart. This led to the race's biggest wreck.
Bubba Wallace spun on the first lap of the restart, collecting Christopher Bell and Byron. All three cars were wrecked out of the race because of the crash.
Hamlin kept the lead after the restart and never looked back. Larson finished just behind in second. Truex, Busch, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.
It's the 54th career victory for Hamlin, tying him with Lee Petty on the all-time wins list.
The NASCAR Cup Series is next in action on Sunday, May 5 at Kansas Speedway. Denny Hamlin is the defending winner.
