Denny Hamlin Dominates at Gateway and Secures His Spot in the Next Playoff Round
In a demonstration of strategy and skill, Denny Hamlin took the victory at World Wide Technology Raceway, securing his place in the second round of the Cup Series playoffs. Hamlin, starting from the pole position, led the final 25 laps, solidifying his fifth win of the season, the most in the series. With this 59th victory in his career, Hamlin continues to demonstrate his prowess on the track, surpassing his competitors and advancing in the competition. His teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe, also had an outstanding performance, finishing in second place after his triumph in the inaugural race at Darlington Raceway. The No. 11 Toyota team called Hamlin to the pits for his final stop with 44 laps remaining. A caution 15 laps later allowed Hamlin to take the lead. Hamlin, a native of Virginia, took advantage of the restart to overtake Brad Keselowski and secure the victory. This was the 200th victory in NASCAR’s premier series for Toyota. Chase Elliott completed the podium in third place, followed by Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, with the playoff drivers occupying the top five positions at the 1.25-mile oval located outside of St. Louis, known as Gateway. Other playoff drivers who managed to get into the top 10 were Christopher Bell (seventh) and Bubba Wallace (eighth), who led 73 of the 240 laps and won the second stage of the race. The Cup Series now heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first-round cut race, which will reduce the playoff field from 16 to 12 drivers. After Gateway, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, and Josh Berry are outside the top 12 positions that will advance to the second round. The winner of last year’s race, Kyle Larson, has won consecutive races in Bristol, leading 872 of the last 1,000 laps on the 0.533-mile oval in Tennessee. Berry will need a win at Bristol to advance to the next round after debuting in the Cup playoffs with two consecutive last-place finishes. The Wood Brothers Racing driver was hit in the left rear by Elliott, causing Berry’s No. 21 Ford to spin into the wall on lap 36.
“Chase and that team have done a lot for me, and I really doubt that was on purpose,” said Berry, who crashed on the first lap of the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway. “Just the wrong place, wrong time for us again. Obviously, it’s unfortunate. We’ll go to Bristol and try to do the best we can and put ourselves in a position to compete for a win, and that’s really all we can do at this point.”
Josh BerryPreviously, NASCAR announced the passing of Bill Davis, whose teams won 40 races in the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck series between 1993 and 2008. Davis earned his five Cup victories with driver Ward Burton, including the 2001 Southern 500 and the 2002 Daytona 500. The Arkansas native, who was 74 years old, also managed cars for Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte before they won Cup championships with other teams. “A championship-winning leader and owner, Bill Davis left a lasting mark on our sport through his passion and unwavering belief in the people around him,” NASCAR said in a statement. “His teams celebrated some of NASCAR’s most prestigious victories.” “Bill was more than a competitor: he was a friend to everyone in the garage, respected for his kindness, generosity, and genuine love for racing.”
