The NASCAR Cup Series visited Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. Qualifying was rained out. Chase Elliott started the race on the pole, and Chase Briscoe started second.
Chase Briscoe took the lead on the opening lap. Briscoe led the opening 13 laps before Chase Elliott passed him on lap 14. Chase led 106 laps to win the first stage over Christopher Bell. Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five. Chase Briscoe finished in sixth place.
Chase Elliott was still the leader with Christopher Bell in second to start the second stage on lap 129. Elliott led a total of 171 laps before making a pit stop. However, Elliott’s pit crew experienced a setback when his car fell off the jack, resulting in pit road for 15 seconds. Once the pit stop cycles were complete, Daniel Suarez was the new leader.
Christopher Bell passed Denny Hamlin for second place on lap 194, and he later passed Suarez for the lead on lap 200. Hamlin passed Suarez for second place three laps later. Christopher Bell extended his lead over Hamlin and went on to win the second stage. Alex Bowman finished second, and Hamlin finished third.
During the caution, Christopher Bell beat Chase Elliott off pit road to keep the lead. The final stage started on lap 260. Elliott and Bell were battling for the lead heading into Turn 3 when Bell spun around, but managed to avoid contact.
Chase Elliott continued the lead the race on lap 266. On lap 285, Denny Hamlin passed Alex Bowman for second place. Elliott had a three-second lead over Hamlin as rain was beginning to move in. From laps 327 to 329, everyone made pit stops. Christopher Bell regained the lead just as the caution came out on lap 337 for rain. Bell made a pit stop during the caution, and Denny Hamlin was the new leader.
Hamlin and Bell were on the front row for the restart on lap 344. Hamlin cleared Bell for the lead. On lap 384, Ross Chastain made contact with the wall exiting off Turn 2. The rain began to pour heavily on the racetrack and the red flag was displayed with 14 laps to go.
The red flag lasted for over an hour before the race resumed. Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell were on the front row when the race restarted on lap 394. Two cautions sent the race to overtime. One was for Christopher Bell spinning on the frontstretch. Noah Gragson and William Byron were also involved in the crash.
On lap 400, Zane Smith and Ryan Preece were involved in a crash on the backstretch. The race restarted for the final time on lap 406. Denny Hamlin fought off Chase Briscoe to beat him by 0.31 seconds for his fourth win of the season. It was his second straight Dover win and the 58th of his career.
Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five. Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buscher, and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top ten. There were eight cautions for 50 laps, and 13 lead changes among nine drivers. Chase Elliott led the most laps (238), and Denny Hamlin led 67 laps.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next Sunday at 2 pm for the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG on TNT.
