Lightning-fast stop at Darlington nets Denny Hamlin second-consecutive victory: A perfectly-executed overtime restart by Denny Hamlin following a clutch final pit stop by his Joe Gibbs Racing crew provided exactly the advantage the veteran needed to claim the trophy in Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Hamlin took the race lead out of the pits during the final late race caution then bested the field on the ensuing restart, pulling his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota out front and ultimately to a .597-second victory over the day’s most dominant driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron.[Read More]
#11-Denny Hamlin won the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. The win is his 2nd win of the year, 5th at Darlington and 56th career win.
Pole sitter #24-Willam Byron finished 2nd followed by #20-Christopher Bell, #45-Tyler Reddick, #12-Ryan Blaney, #17-Chris Buescher, #1-Ross Chastain, #9-Chase Elliott, #54-Ty Gibbs, and #10-Kyle Busch.
Byron dominated most of the race, leading the first 243 laps. He lost the lead for the first time on the day during late green flag pit stops, handing the top spot to Reddick. Reddick led the race until 4 laps to go. Then a caution came out after a spin by Larson, setting up an overtime finish. Everyone pitted, Hamlin came off pit road first, and held the lead for the overtime finish.
The fastest lap bonus was earned by #24-William Byron
Stages 1 & 2 were won by #24-William Byron.
There were 4 lead changes among 4 drivers and 8 cautions for 45 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 120.965mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Race Fast Facts – Darlington:
Denny Hamlin won the Goodyear 400, his 56th victory in 694 NASCAR Cup Series races. He breaks a tie with Rusty Wallace for 11th on the all-time Cup Series wins list.
This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his fifth victory and 19th top-10 finish in 26 races at Darlington Raceway.
William Byron (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Darlington Raceway. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2025.
Christopher Bell (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 12 races at Darlington Raceway.
Shane Van Gisbergen (20th) was the highest finishing rookie.
William Byron leads the point standings by 49 points over Denny Hamlin.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Darlington:
Race 8 of 36 in the season
1) #20-Christopher Bell, 3 wins, 263 points [16 playoff points]
2) #11-Denny Hamlin, 2 win, 266 [12 playoff points]
3) #24-William Byron, 1 win, 315 points [regular season points leader], [8 playoff points]
4) #5-Kyle Larson, 1 win, 244 [7 playoff points]
5) #21-Josh Berry, 1 win, 154 points, [6 playoff points]
6) #9-Chase Elliott, 256, +88 ahead of 17th
7) #45-Tyler Reddick, 254, +86 ahead of 17th
8) #12-Ryan Blaney, 236, [2 playoff points] +68 ahead of 17th
9) #23-Bubba Wallace, 233 [1 playoff point], +65 ahead of 17th
10) #22-Joey Logano, 232, [2 playoff points], +64 ahead of 17th
11) #48-Alex Bowman, 227, +59 ahead of 17th
12) #17-Chris Buescher, 215, +47 ahead of 17th
13) #1-Ross Chastain, 199, +31 ahead of 17th
14) #60-Ryan Preece, 184, [1 playoff point], +16 ahead of 17th
15) #19-Chase Briscoe, 178, +12 ahead of 17th
16) #8-Kyle Busch, 177, +11 ahead of 17th
Outside the top 16:
17) #16-A.J. Allmendinger, 168, -11 behind 16th
18) #71-Michael McDowell, 167, -12 behind 16th
19) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 158, -19 behind 16th
20) #42-John Hunter Nemechek, 155, -22 behind 16th
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Denny Hamlin. His second consecutive win. Byron finishes second, then Bell, Reddick, Blaney, Buescher, Chastain, Elliott, Gibbs, and Busch.
White flag for Hamlin over Byron.
Lap 296 – Green flag for the first overtime attempt.
Lap 293 – Leaders come to pit road. Four tires and fuel. Off pit road: Hamlin, Reddick, Byron, Blaney, Bell, Elliott, Buescher, Busch, Chastain, Gibbs.
Lap 292 – Under caution: Blaney, Reddick, Hamlin, Byron, Bell, Logano, Elliott, Buescher, Chastain, and Busch. Everyone will pit.
Lap 290 – Caution is out just after Blaney takes the lead. Larson spun on the backstretch. There will be an overtime finish. Wallace is the free pass.
Lap 290 – .144 second lead for Blaney. 4 to go.
Lap 289 – Just a .3 second lead for Reddick.
Lap 288 – With 6 laps to go, Reddick’s lead over Blaney is now less than 1 second.
Lap 287 – Seven laps remaining. Reddick ahead of Blaney by just 1.7 second.
Lap 284 – Ten to go. Reddick’s lead over Blaney down to 2.8. Then Hamlin, Bell, Byron, Logano, Elliott, Buescher, Gibbs, and Chastain.
Lap 281 – Just 13 to go and Blaney now just 3.8 second back of Reddick.
Lap 279 – Fifteen to go. Reddick’s lead is still good as everyone works through traffic. Blaney now up to second, 5.1 seconds, back then Bell 5.3, and Byron 5.8.
Lap 274 – Twenty laps to go. Reddick ahead of Bell by 4.9 seconds and Byron by 5.3 seconds.
Lap 269 – Bell now 5.1 seconds back with Byron 5.6 behind Reddick. 25 laps remaining.
Lap 266 – 28 to go. Reddick’s lead still steady, 6.2 over Bell and 6.9 over Byron.
Lap 258 – With 36 laps remaining, Reddick’s lead is 6.1 seconds over Bell. Byron is up to third, 6.5 seconds back.
Lap 253 – Reddick’s lead over Logano is 4.2 seconds, then 4.9 over Bell, and 5.5 second ahead of Byron.
Lap 251 – 43 laps to go. Reddick, Logano, Bell, Byron, and Buescher. Byron further back than he has been all day but he pitted later and has fresher tires.
Lap 249 – Reddick now the leader. He pitted earlier than most of the leaders.
Lap 248 – Hamlin and Blaney pit.
Lap 245 – Byron pits from the lead and for the first time today there is a different leader. It’s Hamlin. Byron lead the first 243 laps.
Lap 243 – Bell pitting from second place. Byron remains on track as the leader.
Lap 239 – Logano pits from 5th and more drivers start to come in for service.
Lap 236 – Byron’s lead is 3.4 seconds over Bell.
Lap 233 – Preece pits to kick off green flag stops.
Lap 229 – 65 laps remaining. Byron still on control. Final green flag pit stops should begin in the next 10 laps or so if there’s no caution.
Lap 221 – Bowman gets into the wall but continues. No caution.
Lap 219 -With 75 laps to go, Byron has a 1 second lead over Bell.
Lap 211 – Bryon over Bell, Hamlin, Reddick, and Logano. 83 laps remaining.
Lap 206 – Berry is officially out of the race.
Lap 202 – Green flag back out. 92 laps to go. Byron still the leader.
Lap 195 – Caution is out. Berry spins on the backstretch after contact with Reddick and slides into the inside wall. He will be done for the day.
Lap 194 – Green flag for the start of the final stage. 100 laps remaining. Byron, Hamlin, Logano, Gibbs, Bell, Berry, Reddick, TDillon Bowman, and Buescher the top 10.
Lap 189 – Everyone back on pit road. Once again, Byron off first. Then Hamlin, Logano, Gibbs and Bell. Blaney with a slow stop.
Lap 186 – Caution for the end of stage 2. Byron wins it. Logano second, then Hamlin, Blaney, Berry, Bell, Gibbs, TDillon, Reddick, and Bowman.
Lap 178 – Some rain drops still reported around the track, but no problems at this point.
Lap 173 – Thirteen laps left in stage 2. Byron has led every lap today and is currently 2.8 seconds ahead of Logano.
Lap 166 – Larson returns to the track. He only completed 4 laps before his accident.
Lap 163 – NASCAR official checking the track for precipitation. There is a light rain shower in the area but nothing of serious concern.
Lap 160 – Byron continues to lead. He’s 1.3 second ahead of Logano. Hamlin remains third.
Lap 143 – Green flag. Byron, Logano, Hamlin, Berry, Bell, Bowman, Gibbs, TDillon, Hill and Briscoe the top 10.
Lap 141 – Pit road open. Off pit road: Byron, Logano, Hamlin, Elliott, Berry, Bell, Bowman.
Lap 138 – Caution is out for debris in turn 4. Byron is still the leader. He has not pitted.
Lap 136 – Keselowski spin with a loose tire but continues on. No caution.
Lap 132 – Pit stops in full swing now.
Lap 130 – Green flag stops kicking off. Blaney is on pit road.
Lap 126 – 60 laps remaining in stage 2. Drivers are likely to start green flag pit stops in the next 10-15 laps.
Lap 125 – Byron over Reddick by .8 second. Then Blaney, Preece, Buescher, Keselowski, Smith, Wallace, Cindric, and Logano.
Lap 114 – Byron continues to lead with Reddick up to second, just .4 second back. Then Wallace, Preece, and Blaney.
Lap 99 – Green flag for the start of stage 2. Byron, Wallace, Preece, Buescher, Reddick, Keselowski, Blaney, Cindric, Smith, Allmendinger the top 10.
Lap 95 – Pit road is open. Drivers out front stay on track. Some further back in the field come in for service.
Lap 91 – Caution for the end of stage 1. Byron wins it. He’s followed by Wallace, Preece, Buescher, Reddick, Keselowski, Blaney, Cindric, Smith, and Allmendinger. Yeley is official done for the day.
Lap 89 – Green flag with two laps remaining in stage 1.
Lap 86 – Pit road is open. Leaders come in. Off pit road: Byron, Preece, Wallace, Buescher, Reddick, Blaney, Keselowski, Smith.
Lap 83 – Caution is out for an accident between Hocevar and Herbst on the frontstretch.
Lap 80 – Bryon continues to lead. Preece reports that he could have a tire going down.
Lap 74 – Byron is starting to laps some cars in the back of the field.
Lap 65 – Bryon has now pulled out to a 5.1 second lead over Preece. Then Buescher, Blaney and Wallace. Yeley and Larson are still behind the wall making repairs.
Lap 51 – Forty laps remaining in stage 1. Byron leads Preece by 1.9 second. Then Buescher, Briscoe, and Busch.
Lap 32 – Yeley got into the backstretch wall and heads to the pits. No caution.
Lap 30 – Green flag with 61 laps remaining in stage 1.
Lap 27 – Pit road open and the leaders come in. Off pit road: Byron, Preece, Busch, Cindric, Briscoe, Wallace, Buescher, Gilliland.
Lap 25 – Caution out for a spin by Hocevar. He has a tire down.
Lap 20 – Byron leads Preece by 2.9 seconds. Wallace restarted 17th after pitting and is up to 9th on fresh tires.
Lap 9 – Green flag back out: Byron, Preece, Cindric, Briscoe, and Busch.
Lap 7 – Pit road opens and some drivers further back come in. Wallace, Reddick, Gibbs, Keslowski and Hamlin off pit road first. Byron still the leader over Preece.
Lap 4 – Caution on the backstretch for a crash by Larson.
Lap 2 – Bryon leads the first lap.
3:16pm/et – Green flag at Darlington. Byron and Preece on the front row. First stage is 90 laps.
3:02pm/et – Engines fired at Darlington.
2:54pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
2:00pm/et – Fox Sports’ RaceDay is on the air.
No weather troubles today. According to the National Weather Service: Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Southwest wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
No cars reported to the rear as of Saturday evening when the garage closed.
Race Details:
Broadcast: FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 293 laps / 400.2 miles
Stages: 90 / 185 / 293
Average time of race: 3:19:08
Pit road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 50 mph
Fuel Window: 76 laps
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: none
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway have been made.
Pole winner #24-Willam Byron chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #60-Ryan Preece took the 8th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Darlington Pit Stall page.
#24-Willam Byron won the Busch pole for the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway with a speed of 170.904 mph for his 2nd pole of the year, 2nd at Darlington and 15th of his career.
#60-Ryan Preece will start second followed by #11-Denny Hamlin, #19-Chase Briscoe, #23-Bubba Wallace, #2-Austin Cindric, #45-Tyler Reddick, #8-Kyle Busch, #12-Ryan Blaney and #71-Michael McDowell.
See the complete qualifying results and the Goodyear 400 Starting Lineup.
Darlington Raceway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
William Byron won the Pole Award for the Goodyear 400 with a lap of 28.774 seconds, 170.904 mph.
This is his 15th pole in 260 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and sixth top-10 start in 2025.
This is his second pole in 14 races at Darlington Raceway.
Ryan Preece (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2025 and his second in 11 races at Darlington Raceway.
Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 20th top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his fourth in eight races this season.
Riley Herbst (32nd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over. The results:
#77-Carson Hocevar 168.054
#21-Josh Berry 167.180
#43-Erik Jones 167.123
#2-Austin Cindric 166.777
#7-Justin Haley 166.551
Slowest: #44-J.J. Yeley 160.109mpj.
Most laps run: #99-Daniel Suarez, 40 laps
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 37 drivers): #21-Josh Berry 163.520mph
Notes: #42-Nemechek spun during group A practice but did not hit anything. The top 5 drivers were all in Group A.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Goodyear 400 Practice speeds page.
Pre-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage is complete. There were no multiple failures.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is posted, 38 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams entered are #33-Austin Hill and #44-J.J. Yeley.
See the full entry list on the Goodyear 400 Entry List page.
Statistical Advance: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina going into the Goodyear 400 on Sunday.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Darlington Raceway
Race rules and information:
