With the help of his pit crew and a great launch on the race's final restart, Denny Hamlin won the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran won his second consecutive race and the fifth of his career at the track. The win also moved him past NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 11th on the all-time wins list with 56.
Hamlin pulled away on the overtime restart after his pit crew gained him two spots on pit road. Hamlin only led 10 laps in the race, compared to the 274 he paced the field for at Martinsville. Despite leading the first 243 laps in the race, William Byron had to settle for second. Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell was third, followed by 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick in fourth and Team Penske's Ryan Blaney in fifth.
Updated Cup Series standings after Goodyear 400 at Darlington
Driver Standings | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|
1. William Byron | 315 | 0 |
2. Denny Hamlin | 266 | -49 |
3. Christopher Bell | 263 | -52 |
4. Chase Elliott | 256 | -59 |
5. Tyler Reddick | 254 | -61 |
6. Kyle Larson | 244 | -71 |
7. Ryan Blaney | 236 | -79 |
8. Bubba Wallace | 233 | -82 |
9. Joey Logano | 232 | -83 |
10. Alex Bowman | 227 | -88 |
With his second straight win, Hamlin goes from sixth to second in the standings. Due to Byron's consistency at the front, he increased his points lead to +49 over Hamlin. Bell (-52), Chase Elliott (-59) and Reddick (-61) round out the top five. Larson swaps places with Hamlin in sixth (-71) after his frustrating day at Darlington that began with a Lap 4 spin down the backstretch. Ryan Blaney (-79), Bubba Wallace (-82), Joey Logano (-83) and Alex Bowman (-88) complete the top 10. Bowman drops from fifth to 10th after a disappointing three-point day at Darlington.
Notable drivers outside the top 10 include Kyle Busch (15th), Daniel Suarez (24th), Ty Gibbs (26th), Brad Keselowski (31st) and Shane van Gisbergen (33rd). Keep in mind, a win will most likely guarantee a driver a playoff spot with 16 spots up for grabs. After Darlington, Byron, Bell, Berry, Larson and Hamlin remain the season's five race winners. Currently, that 16th and final postseason spot for postseason eligibility goes to Busch (+9) over AJ Allmendinger. Busch is 16th in the overall standings, but with Berry's win at Las Vegas earlier this season, he goes from 20th to the top of the playoff leaderboard. Obviously, things are going to change, but that is the position drivers currently find themselves in after Darlington.
One thing to keep in mind is the importance of both regular-season points standings and playoff standings. While drivers with wins vault to the top of the points standings and guarantee themselves a playoff spot, assuming there are no more than 16 winners, the overall points are equally important. The regular-season champion by season's end will earn an additional 15 playoff points, second place will get 10 and drivers third-10th in points will receive points in descending order all the way down to one point for 10th.