Dover Denny Does it Again

Denny Hamlin celebrates his win in the 2025 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo: Derik Hamilton/AP Photo)

Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400:

Denny Hamlin captured the checkered flag for the fourth time of the 2025 season on Sunday afternoon. Hamlin's fourth win of the season leads all Cup Series this year, and was Hamlin's 58th win of his legendary career. His Dover triumph, with a fast car, great pit strategy, and flawless execution, notched him the "Dover hat trick" with his third win at the Monster Mile in our nation's first state.

The race, overall, was meh. Chase Elliott dominated for much the day, passing remained stagnant at times, and there was very little attrition throughout most of the race. Actually, aside from Chase Elliott kicking ass, there was little drama until Christopher Bell spun out at the start of Stage 3. Bell, who was running second, bottomed out and spun in front of the entire field to kick off Stage 3, and miraculously, no other cars were involved. While not much else happened for a bit, from my perspective, you could tell things ratcheted up a bit with that spin. With the tense start to Stage 3 and the potential for rain, business did pick up and pit strategy plays came to the forefront. The impending rain storms and eventual sprinkles hit the track near the end of green flag pit cycles; the move paying off mainly (briefly) for Christopher Bell and a few other drivers who ran long in the pit cycle. This rain storm didn't linger long and we were soon back to racing with a few different pit strategies. A smattering of drivers stayed out having just pitted several laps before the caution. They were lead by Denny Hamlin. Christopher Bell and others who ran long and were near the back of the lead lap cars pitted. Most got four tires, but Chase Elliott who gave up the front row stopped for just two right side Goodyear Eagles. We go back racing and Denny Hamlin takes control of the race and would maintain control with hard chargers such as Christopher Bell (would would spin again and trigger a multicar wreck with several laps left after the red flag for rain) and Chase Briscoe who just couldn't get by Hamlin on the final restart of the day. And with those challengers defeated, Hamlin cruised around the final lap to capture his fourth win of the 2025 campaign, and firmly establish himself in the championship contender conversation as we approach the playoffs.

Next up we head to Indianapolis for action at two different tracks amongst the three national touring series. The Craftsman Truck Series returns to action this weekend after their brief hiatus. They hit the track Friday night at 8 p.m. EST on FS1 with the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The Xfinity Series hits the track Saturday afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 4:30 p.m. EST on The CW with the Pennzoil 250. And the Cup Series headlines the weekend at IMS with the Brickyard 400 on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. EST on TNT.

Indianapolis Picks:

Truck = Grant Enfinger

Xfinity = Kyle Larson

Cup = Chase Briscoe