DARLINGTON, S.C. — Denny Hamlin clinched the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on April 6, 2025, outpacing William Byron by 0.597 seconds in an overtime finish. The victory, Hamlin’s second straight in the NASCAR Cup Series, came after a flawless pit stop by his Joe Gibbs Racing crew during a late caution, propelling his No. 11 Toyota to the lead for the final restart.
The race’s turning point arrived with three laps left when a caution flag waved for Kyle Larson’s spin, prompting the leaders to pit for fresh tires. Hamlin’s crew executed a rapid stop, vaulting him from third to first ahead of Tyler Reddick and Byron. On the green flag, Hamlin surged ahead, securing his 56th career win and breaking a tie with Rusty Wallace for 11th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. “There’s two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson,” Hamlin said post-race. “The pit crew just did an amazing job. They won it last week. They won it this week.”
Byron, who led a race-high 243 of 297 laps and won both Stage 1 and Stage 2, settled for second after dominating early. “It was looking like we were going to have a perfect race and lead every lap,” Byron said. “Once we lost control, it was too late to get back up there.” Christopher Bell took third, rallying from 20th, followed by Reddick in fourth and Ryan Blaney in fifth, who lost the lead he’d just taken before the caution.
The 1.366-mile track saw eight cautions over 45 laps, with lead changes among four drivers. Hamlin led twice for 10 laps, while Blaney and Reddick briefly held the front. Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10. Byron retains the points lead, 49 ahead of Hamlin, per NASCAR standings.
The race, averaging 120.965 mph over 3 hours, 21 minutes, and 14 seconds, drew 19,098 fans under partly cloudy skies, per NASCAR data. Next, the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500 on April 13.
