Denny Hamlin made it look easy at World Wide Technology Raceway, winning from the pole and playing strategy to perfection to grab his series-high fifth victory of the season. The win, the 59th of his career, punched Hamlin’s ticket to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and marked the 200th Cup win for Toyota.
Hamlin, Briscoe Lead the Gibbs Charge
Hamlin’s final stop came with 44 laps remaining, and a timely caution 15 laps later set him up to steal the lead from Brad Keselowski on the restart. From there, he led the final 25 laps, holding off Chase Briscoe, who finished second after winning last week’s playoff opener at Darlington.
It was a perfect one-two punch for Joe Gibbs Racing, sending both drivers through to the next round.
Elliott, Blaney, Logano Keep Playoff Picture Tight
- Chase Elliott rebounded after a rough Darlington with a third-place finish.
- Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano rounded out the top five, making it a playoff-driver sweep at the 1.25-mile oval known as Gateway.
- Christopher Bell finished seventh.
- Bubba Wallace led 73 of 240 laps, won Stage 2, and brought home eighth.
Bristol Cutoff Looms Large
Heading into next weekend’s Bristol Night Race, the playoff field will shrink from 16 to 12. Four drivers are on the outside looking in:
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Austin Dillon
- Alex Bowman
- Josh Berry
For Berry, the situation is dire. After wrecking out on the first lap at Darlington, his race at Gateway ended on lap 36 when contact from Elliott sent him spinning into the wall. He’ll need nothing short of a win at Bristol to keep his playoff dream alive.
“Wrong place, wrong time for us again,” Berry said. “We’ll just go to Bristol and put ourselves in position to race for a win — that’s really all we can do at this point.”
Adding pressure? Defending winner Kyle Larson, who has led 872 of the past 1,000 laps at Bristol, will be the man to beat under the Tennessee lights.
Remembering Bill Davis
The weekend also brought sad news. NASCAR announced the death of Bill Davis, a former team owner whose squads scored 40 wins across Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks between 1993 and 2008.
Davis’ Cup highlights included five wins with Ward Burton, notably the 2001 Southern 500 and the 2002 Daytona 500. The Arkansas native, 74, also fielded cars for Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte early in their careers.
“Bill was more than a competitor — he was a friend to all in the garage, respected for his kindness, generosity, and genuine love for racing,” NASCAR said in a statement.
