Denny does it at Dover! Hamlin ties NASCAR Cup Series lead with third win of season

Denny Hamlin has won at Dover Motor Speedway.

His dominance throughout the final stage of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race secured Hamlin his third win of the season, tying him with Charlotte native William Byron for the most in the series.

Hamlin, the 43-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing veteran, held off Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.

Kyle Busch started from the pole alongside Ryan Blaney, and Martin Truex Jr. won a mostly clean Stage 1. A Todd Gilliland spin prompted an early caution, and then the stage ended a few laps early as the Ford Mustang of Brad Keselowski went around.

Truex led early in Stage 2 and eventually lost the lead to Kyle Larson during the green-flag pit cycle. Larson held off Alex Bowman, Hamlin and Truex to win the stage — but then lost the lead on pit road.

A big wreck came on Lap 329 of 400. Zane Smith got into Bubba Wallace, who spun into Byron and Christopher Bell. Wallace, Byron and Bell were released from the infield care center and out of the race.

Here’s a look at the race’s biggest moments as they unfolded:

Lap 400: Denny Hamlin wins, holding off a charging Kyle Larson!

Lap 383: Ten to go! Denny Hamlin leads by under 0.4 seconds. Kyle Larson keeping it close, ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch.

Lap 375: Denny Hamlin’s lead over Kyle Larson has been cut to roughly 0.75 seconds. Lots of lapped traffic toward the front.

Lap 351: William Byron, Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace have been released from the infield care center.

Your Top 10: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Hemric, Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain.

Lap 337: Green for the restart! Denny Hamlin leads.

Lap 335: Denny Hamlin is still the leader. Kyle Larson is second, Martin Truex Jr. third, Noah Gragson fourth and Chase Elliott fifth.

Lap 333: Zane Smith got into Bubba Wallace on the outside, and the No. 23 car spun into the cars of William Byron and Christopher Bell.

William Byron and Bubba Wallace are done for the day.

Lap 329: A big crash on the backstretch after the restart! Bubba Wallace spins, and his Toyota slammed into the front of Christopher Bell’s car. William Byron and Zane Smith also involved.

Lap 325: Stenhouse brings out the race’s fourth caution (including the two for stage breaks, the first of which was prompted a couple of laps early by a Brad Keselowski spin). Daniel Hemric, who hasn’t pitted in roughly 70 laps, is the leader.

Lap 321: Caution!! Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spins and wrecks into the inside wall!

Lap 320: Kyle Larson beats Denny Hamlin off pit road.

Lap 318: Here come our green-flag pit stops! The cars of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, which had been running first and second respectively, are among the first to pit.

Lap 303: It’s been a solid run for Corey Heim in his Cup debut. He currently sits P24 (two laps down), ahead of Legacy Motorsports teammates John Hunter Nemechek (P25) and Jimmie Johnson (P31).

Lap 290: Your Top 10: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

Lap 273: Denny Hamlin, the seventh leader of this race, is opening a commanding lead over the field. Ryan Blaney, running sixth, is the only Ford driver in the Top 10.

Lap 259: Green for the final stage! Denny Hamlin, who edged Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson off pit road, leads for the 15th consecutive race. Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. are your top five.

Lap 254: Denny Hamlin is the first off pit road.

Lap 251: That marks Kyle Larson’s sixth stage win of the season. No other Cup driver has more than two.

The Top 10, collecting stage points: Larson, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

Stage 2

Lap 250: Kyle Larson wins Stage 2! Alex Bowman initially lost some of his pace before flying past Denny Hamlin, but it wasn’t enough to catch Larson.

Lap 240: Your Top 10, with 10 laps left in Stage 2: Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

Lap 235: Alex Bowman is trimmed the gap between him and leader Kyle Larson to roughly a split-second as Stage 2 nears its finish. Fifteen to go.

Lap 226: Brad Keselowski hits the wall! The No. 6 Ford is coming down pit road slowly with a flat right front tire. Race stays green.

Lap 219: Kyle Larson passes Corey LaJoie! The No. 5 car had enough speed to catch LaJoie before he pitted. Also, Alex Bowman has surged up to second place, passing Tyler Reddick and now Martin Truex Jr.

Lap 214: Corey LaJoie, the race leader for the last 28 laps, hasn’t pitted since Lap 123.

Lap 200: Corey LaJoie stayed out and has built a lead of roughly 16 seconds, driving alongside lapped cars. Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin follow as the race reaches its halfway point.

Lap 187: Carson Hocevar gets a pass-through for equipment interference. Corey LaJoie holds the race lead at the moment.

Lap 184: Green-flag pit stops! AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric are the first to head down pit road, and most of the field joins them.

Lap 179: Long green-flag run here at Dover that still sees Truex leading by roughly 2.61 seconds. William Byron is second, and Kyle Larson has passed Tyler Reddick for third.

Lap 153: Martin Truex Jr. has a commanding lead early in Stage 2, running well ahead of William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson.

Lap 130: Green for Stage 2!

Lap 122: Your points-getters following Stage 1: Truex, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stage 1

Lap 120: Martin Truex Jr. wins Stage 1 under caution!

Lap 118: Brad Keselowski spins! Caution is out, and that should end Stage 1.

Lap 113: Martin Truex Jr. battles alongside William Byron and takes the lead!

Lap 110: There’s plenty of lapped traffic as Stage 1 winds down. William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson are your Top Five as we approach the final 10 laps!

Lap 99: Ryan Preece is officially out of the race. It’s been a tough opening stage for those Stewart-Haas Racing cars, as Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe and Josh Berry have all fallen out of the Top 10.

Lap 79: William Byron passes Ryan Blaney for the race lead! Blaney’s 44 laps led are the most since his last win (Martinsville in the playoffs).

Lap 72: All four of the Hendrick Motorsports cars are now in the Top 10: William Byron (P2), Kyle Larson (P6), Alex Bowman (P8) and Chase Elliott (P10).

Lap 64: Ryan Preece pits under green as the cockpit on the side of his No. 41 Ford is still smoking. He’ll be heading to the garage, and his day is likely over.

Lap 58: The Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets are working through the field, with Kyle Larson up to ninth, Alex Bowman 10th and Chase Elliott 13th.

Lap 53: Ryan Blaney has been leading since the restart, ahead of William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch. Busch, the pole-sitter, worked back up to fourth after falling farther back after the last pit cycle.

Lap 48: Restart! Green again!

Lap 44: Most drivers head down pit road under caution. Corey Heim, driving the No. 43 Toyota in his Cup debut, made contact with Tyler Reddick coming into his pit stall.

Lap 39: Caution! Todd Gilliland spins from 26th and slides toward the wall.

Lap 34: And we have our first pass for the lead! Ryan Blaney passes Kyle Busch, who had led the most laps since the last time he started a Cup race from the pole.

Lap 20: There’s smoke coming out of the passenger side of Ryan Preece’s car. He’s running toward the back.

Lap 12: There’s a particularly large crowd on-hand at the Monster Mile for today’s race, and the field has been running in order in the early goings. It’s a warm, sunny day in Dover, significantly hotter than yesterday in qualifying.

Green flag, 2:14 p.m.: Let’s gooo racing!

2:02 p.m.: Engines have been fired! Racin’ soon at Dover!

1:40 p.m.: Today’s pre-race schedule: The invocation will be given at 1:54 p.m. The U.S. Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps will perform the national anthem at 1:55 p.m. Several military veterans will say the most famous words in motorsports and give command at 2:02 p.m., and honorary starter Benjamin Wurth (a leader of the race’s title sponsor) will wave the green flag at 2:11 p.m.

1:20 p.m.: Another update to the No. 43 Toyota, being driven by Corey Heim in his Cup debut amid Erik Jones’ spinal fracture: Legacy Motor Club vice president Joey Cohen will serve as crew chief today, as Dave Elenz returned to North Carolina yesterday evening to attend to a personal matter, Legacy announced.

1 p.m.: Happy Race Day from the Monster Mile!

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to its 1.03-mile concrete oval in Delaware today, with the green flag scheduled to wave at 2:11 p.m.

No driver has won more at Dover than Jimmie Johnson, the legend who’s running in nine Cup races this season. Among the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s newest inductees, the seven-time Cup Series champion owns a record 11 wins at Dover.

Fellow Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Bobby Allison each have seven victories there. Martin Truex Jr., who grew up nearby in South Jersey, is a four-time winner at his home track, including last spring’s race.

Corey Heim makes Cup debut in iconic Richard Petty car

The up-and-coming NASCAR prospect who won last year’s Truck Series regular-season title starts in a Cup car for the first time today.

And the 21-year-old will be driving a familiar car. Filling in for the injured Erik Jones, Heim will pilot the No. 43 Chevrolet for Legacy Motor Club, decked out in Richard Petty’s famous paint scheme.

Kyle Busch wins first pole position of season

“Rowdy” will lead the field to green on Sunday after running a qualifying lap of 22.196 seconds. It’s his second pole in 36 starts at Dover.

Busch will start alongside Ryan Blaney on the front row. The cars of William Byron and Tyler Reddick make up the second.

Who are the favorites to win the Würth 400?

Kyle Larson is the favorite to win Sunday’s race, at +450 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook and +400 odds on FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and William Byron.

The Observer’s Shane Connuck is picking Martin Truex Jr. to repeat at Dover. The story just feels too difficult to bet against. Before the elder Truex triumphed at his home track for the fourth time, Ryan Truex took the checkered flag in that weekend’s Xfinity Series race. What happened yesterday? After it had looked as if Carson Kvapil may had been on the way to his first win, Ryan Truex got past him in the second overtime and won. With Martin starting 15th on Sunday, another Truex family sweep doesn’t feel too far-fetched.

How to watch and stream the NASCAR race at Dover

Race: Würth 400

Place: Dover Motor Speedway

Date: Sunday, April 28

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Purse: $7,992,801

TV: FS1, 1 p.m. ET

Streaming: FOX Sports

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 400 miles (400 laps)

Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 120; Stage 2 ends on Lap 250; and the Final Stage ends on Lap 400.

Starting lineup for the Würth 400