This weekend, after a couple of ovals, the NASCAR Cup Series are back to their bread and butter: ovals. And there are a couple of drivers who couldn’t be more excited about it. Both Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin struggled in recent weeks on the road courses. Both are former Dover winners and were looking to get back on track today. Meanwhile, after his moment in the sun, Shane van Gisbergen is back at it, trying to navigate and gain experience racing on ovals.
The annual stop at Dover Motor Speedway also marks the penultimate race in the In-Season Challenge. We’re down to the final four. After today, only two will advance to the championship round next week at Indianapolis. Was the Cinderella story with No. 32 seed Ty Dillon able to continue or was he reality checked by John Hunter Nemechek? Moreover, who was able to slay Miles the Monster? Let’s talk about it. Here’s everything that happened in the EchoPark 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
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The race restarted with Bell in the lead and Elliott taking it to him on the inside. In turns 3 and 4, Christopher Bell’s No. 20 snapped loose after bottoming out. Bell went around, relinquishing the lead to Elliott. Luckily, he didn’t hit anything, and nobody hit him. Chase Elliott took the lead. This was our first caution for incident of the day.
The race restarted with Elliott in the lead. The No. 9 Hendrick Chevy scooted away from second-place Denny Hamlin. However, with slightly under 100 laps to go, the weather started to be a major concern. Elliott and others came down to make their final pit stops. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon stayed out, gambling on the rain setting in. It started to drizzle and the caution came out. Under the yellow flag conditions, nobody opted to come down pit road.
The rain stopped momentarily, and we went back racing. Still a threat, the clouds looming around the speedway darkened with each passing lap. Hamlin had the advantage early on, but Bell was hot on his heels. Slowly, the rain encroached on the speedway. With 17 laps to go, something broke in the No. 1 car of Ross Chastain. Chastain got into the outside wall hard, ending his day.
During this caution, rain started coming down in Turn 1. It was a small cell and with 13 laps to go, NASCAR red flagged the race. The shower was brief and NASCAR quickly started to dry the track. The race restarted at about 6:45 EST. The top 7 stayed out along with Noah Gragson. The race restarted with 8 laps to go. The Gibbs cars of Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell battled hard for the race lead. For the second time today, Christopher Bell got loose battling for the win. He went around, collecting Noah Gragson and William Byron in his spin. Meanwhile, Chase Briscoe, with fresh Goodyear tires, was up to 4th.
The race restarted with two laps to go. Denny Hamlin cleared the lead, but Briscoe, with fresh rubber, was right behind him. The caution came out again with Zane Smith spinning. This resulted in us going into NASCAR Overtime. At the choose, Hamlin took the top while Briscoe took the inside. Denny got a good launch on the restart. But Briscoe battled back on the inside. Coming to take the white flag, the two touched and the No. 19 car lost his momentum. Denny Hamlin cleared for the race lead. In the battle of old tires vs. new, the old prevailed at the Monster Mile today. Denny Hamlin went back-to-back at Dover, capturing his 4th win of the season.
When the green flag dropped, Chase Briscoe rocketed by Chase Elliott to snatch the race lead away. He led the opening 13 laps of the race before Chase Elliott wrestled it back away from him. From there, Elliott set sail. During the competition caution, Elliott pitted from first and won the race off of pit road. He managed to maintain the lead and fend off a ravenous Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin to win the opening stage of the race. This resulted in Elliott scoring a bonus Playoff point. That could turn out to be very valuable, considering that he entered this race from the 12th Playoff seed.
The second stage started off where the first one left off. When the green flag dropped, Chase Elliott cleared Bell into Turn 1 for the lead and didn’t look back for the entirety of the green flag run. However, a slow pot stop cost him the lead. Christopher Bell was able to leapfrog Elliott on pit road, assuming the first position. Once things cycled through, Elliott found himself in the 5th position. Slowly, he started to make his way back up through the field. With teammates all around him, he battled hard with William Byron and Kyle Larson.
Christopher Bell went on to win the second stage of the EchoPark 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. Behind him were Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman. It was Bell’s second stage win of the year.
Race winner, Denny Hamlin, clocked the Xfinity Fastest Lap. This results in him receiving an extra bonus point, bringing his total up to 57. The lap posted was 23.09.
The following are the unofficial results from the EchoPark 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. This list will be updated once inspection is finished and the results are finalized.
UPDATE: All cars cleared inspection. The race results are now official.
The following drivers have clinched playoff berths by scoring wins in the regular season.
This crop of drivers are currently in on points.
These drivers are on the outside looking in.
*Drivers who advanced are depicted in BOLD.
The yearly stop at Dover Motor Speedway is officially in the books. For the second year in a row, Denny Hamlin hoisted the Miles the Monster trophy. What did you think of this race, Daily Downforce readers? What about NASCAR’s commitment to give us a green flag finish? Who are you rooting for in the In-Season Challenge Championship Race at Indy next week? Are you surprised that Ty Dillon made it to the final round? Let us know what you think! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
Tune into DailyDownforce.com all week long for the latest news, discussions, and stories straight out of the NASCAR garage. And come back next week as we head back to the Midwest at the Brickyard!
