Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s (July 20) Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, holding off Chase Briscoe to score his fourth win of the 2025 season.
Hamlin cleared Briscoe in turn 1 on the final lap and drove away to earn Joe Gibbs Racing’s 12th Dover victory.
The final 14 laps of the NASCAR Cup Series race occurred after a 56-minute red flag for rain.
“It was tough,” Hamlin told TNT. “Those guys gave me a run for it. To have back-to-back here over the last couple years is amazing.”
“I thought I did everything I needed to,” Briscoe said. “I thought I had him. Racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure a JGR car won.”
Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-10.
Bowman had a front row seat of the race for the win.
“Just looking for an opportunity to get by,” Bowman said. “This place is so aero-dependent that you’re just looking for an hole. Unfortunately, we never really got clean air.”
Elliott led 238 laps, but took two tires late in stage three and lost the lead to Hamlin. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell finished 18th after spinning for the second time on Lap 393.
Elliott had perhaps the most heartbreaking result of the afternoon, as the No. 9 was the dominant car for much of the afternoon. However, the aforementioned two-tire call by crew chief Alan Gustafson in the race’s final stage took Elliott out of winning contention.
Bell had gotten back into contention after a previous spin on Lap 260 and led a total of 67 laps.
“I definitely wasn’t going to lift, and I knew (Denny) wasn’t going to lift,” Bell said. “We were going to race really hard, and I just spun out. I’m proud of the effort that this team has put into trying to improve.”
Elliott won stage one, while Bell won stage two.
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Results
The NASCAR Cup Series will return on July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Brickyard 400 will begin at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.