Denny Hamlin conquered the monster again on Sunday with his second straight win at Dover Motor Speedway. He cleared Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe coming to the white flag and held on for his series-leading fourth win of the season, his third at Dover and the 58th of his career.
The No. 19 was close, but the No. 11 prevailed in #NASCAROvertime. 💪 pic.twitter.com/oacv4cDbHl
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 20, 2025
His 24 playoff points are the most of any driver in the series, surpassing Kyle Larson (23). A late red flag for rain with 15 laps to go set the stage for differing strategies in the closing laps. Despite Briscoe's fresher tires alongside him for the final restart, Hamlin proved to be too much, leading 67 laps in the process.
Behind Hamlin and Briscoe were Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs with Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski completing the top 10. Elliott led a race-high 238 laps, but had to settle for sixth after getting shuffled back on the late restarts. He was also never able to get back to the lead after a two-tire call with 61 to go when Hamlin stayed on the track and the drivers around him took four tires.
The In-Season Challenge also reached its final two as Ty Dillon (20th) outlasted John Hunter Nemechek (21st) and Gibbs (fifth) bested Tyler Reddick (12th) to advance to the final round at Indianapolis, where the two will square off for the $1 million prize.
Two drivers. One race. $1,000,000 on the line. pic.twitter.com/KxAsQbrw0j
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 21, 2025
NASCAR Cup Series regular season points and playoff picture after Dover
Five races remain in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Those include 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 27), 0.88-mile Iowa Speedway (Aug. 3), 2.45-mile road course Watkins Glen (Aug. 10), 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway (Aug. 16) and 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway (Aug. 23).
Updated Cup Series standings after the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway
Driver Standings | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|
1. Chase Elliott | 702 | 0 |
2. William Byron | 686 | -16 |
3. Kyle Larson | 664 | -38 |
4. Denny Hamlin | 663 | -39 |
5. Tyler Reddick | 640 | -62 |
6. Christopher Bell | 635 | -67 |
7. Ryan Blaney | 576 | -126 |
8. Chase Briscoe | 570 | -132 |
9. Alex Bowman | 547 | -155 |
10. Chris Buescher | 528 | -174 |
With a stage win and a sixth-place finish, Elliott overtakes Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron - who was involved in the multi-car crash on Lap 393 - to become the new points leader. Hamlin moves ahead of Reddick after his fourth win of the season. Ross Chastain falls out after his 33rd-place finish while Bowman jumps up to ninth with his third-place run.
Notable drivers outside the top 10 in the overall standings include Joey Logano (11th), Chastain (12th), Wallace (13th), Kyle Busch (15th), Gibbs (16th), Keselowski (27th) and Daniel Suarez (29th). Austin Cindric (19th), Josh Berry (22nd) and Shane van Gisbergen (26th) are in the bottom half of the overall standings, but are locked into the playoff field as things currently stand due to their wins this season.
NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after Dover
Position | Driver | Wins/points above or below cut line |
|---|---|---|
1. | Denny Hamlin | 4 wins |
2. | Kyle Larson | 3 wins |
3. | Christopher Bell | 3 wins |
4. | Shane van Gisbergen | 3 wins |
5. | William Byron | 1 win |
6. | Ryan Blaney | 1 win |
7. | Austin Cindric | 1 win |
8. | Joey Logano | 1 win |
9. | Chase Elliott | 1 win |
10. | Chase Briscoe | 1 win |
11. | Ross Chastain | 1 win |
12. | Josh Berry | 1 win |
13. | Tyler Reddick | +156 |
14. | Alex Bowman | +63 |
15. | Chris Buescher | +44 |
16. | Bubba Wallace | +16 |
17. | Ryan Preece | -16 |
18. | Kyle Busch | -39 |
19. | Ty Gibbs | -52 |
20. | Michael McDowell | -77 |
Hamlin is now atop the playoff standings with his series-leading fourth win, surpassing Larson, Christopher Bell and Shane van Gisbergen in that category. Reddick, Bowman and Chris Buescher each improved their points cushion while Wallace gained 13 points to stretch his advantage over Ryan Preece to 16 points for the 16th and final spot.
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-to-10th in points will receive points in descending order down to one point for 10th.