DOVER − This is what Dover Motor Speedway officials must have dreamed about.
A brilliantly hot and humid summer day, with race fans and non-race fans alike taking in the “Miles Beach” and all the accoutrements, the concerts on the various stages, and all of the activities on the outside of the track.
Then those who sat in the grandstand saw a AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 race that was thrilling throughout, including two overtimes, on July 20.
That was especially true after a brief rain shower that stopped the race with 14 laps remaining.
When racing resumed after a one-hour delay, Denny Hamlin ended up winning for the third time at Dover, and for the second straight year, by holding off Chase Briscoe to win after 407 laps.
Hamlin is the 19th driver to win three races at Dover, and third to win back-to-back races at the Monster Mile.
And this victory showed why Hamlin is the perfect driver for the Monster Mile, and the high-banked oval is the perfect track for him.
“I’m just so highly competitive,” Hamlin said. “That’s the only way I can explain it. I just don’t know if there’s anyone on the face of the earth that’s more competitive than I am. I’m sure there is, I just don’t know.
“And so, I just feel like, when I’m tested, I’m going to give you a little more. If you doubt me, I’m going to give you a little more. I just feel like I thrive in game-time moments.”
Hamilton had three of those moments.
First, Hamlin had to hold off Christopher Bell for about 40 laps after taking the lead on Lap 343. With storm clouds moving in, Bell knew that he would have to make his move, either hoping to finish the race in first place before the rain hit, or at least be in the lead when the race was stopped.
Then magically, the skies cleared after a brief rainstorm, thus making it inevitable that the race would resume once the track was dried. So Bell immediately went for the lead upon the green flag on Lap 392.
Hamlin wouldn’t give in and Bell crashed.
That set up overtime. On the next restart on Lap 399, Briscoe was in second place, and immediately went after Hamlin. Another crash on that first lap led to another restart on Lap 405. This time, Hamlin had to hold off Briscoe again as Briscoe tried cutting underneath him.
“I thought I had him,” Briscoe said. “I was so close to clearing him. I just couldn’t do it.”
Briscoe had fresher tires, pitting after the red flag for rain. Hamlin last pitted for tires on Lap 327, meaning that Briscoe’s were 60 laps fresher.
So after the second overtime restart, Briscoe attacked. But Hamlin wasn’t going to be denied.
No wonder Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gayle, said, “that was tough on the ticker.”
Then he added: “Give kudos to Denny. When you get him in a situation where he’s got the ball in his hands, and it’s time to go win the race, he finds a way to do that most times.”
And that goes to show the beauty of the “Monster Mile.” It’s not for the timid or faint of heart.
Alex Bowman, who won the spring race in 2021, was the last time a non-Hall of Fame driver, or one who’s going to be in the NASCAR Hall, won here since Greg Biffle in the spring race in 2005. But Bowman had won four races in 2021, so it’s not like his victory at Dover came out of the blue.
Bowman, by the way, was third on July 20.
“It was good, hard racing,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got three guys racing (for the lead), and you gotta show them who’s boss.”
“It’s critical, right,” Gayle said about having that mentality. “Some guys will shy away from that moment. Some guys will embrace it … He wants to be in that situation, to be able to get a win, and that’s what happened.”
So yes, there was something for everyone, both on the track and off.
A subplot to the race was the NASCAR In-Season Tournament Challenge. Dover represented the fourth of five races as 32 drivers were seeded and paired up in a bracket-style situation with the winner advancing and the loser being eliminated.
At Dover, Ty Dillon, seeded No. 32 and last, won his fourth straight matchup, finishing 20th overall and beating his semifinal opponent John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 12 seed. Ty Gibbs, seeded No. 6, beat Tyler Reddick in the other semifinal.
Dillon will face Gibbs next Sunday at the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. The winner takes home $1 million.
And there was more intrigue.
There are five races to go before the playoff field is set, following the Daytona race on Aug. 23. So far, 12 drivers have won a race and thus qualified for the 16-driver playoff field held over the final 10 races of the season.
Three of those drivers − Shane van Gisbergen (26th), Josh Berry (21st) and Austin Cindric (20th) − are beyond the top 16, meaning that they could bump three drivers in the top 16 who haven’t won a race this season.
There was little chance of one of those drivers winning at Dover. The Monster is just too unforgiving, and Hamlin is too unrelenting.
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Hamlin wasn’t angst-ridden, wondering if the race would resume as the rains come down. Rather, he was counting on it, thinking, “Who am I going to beat next?”
So Hamlin said he smiled when he heard the fans in the stands cheering as the rain stopped, a rainbow formed, and the drying trucks came out. Soon after, the race restarted, and Hamlin was holding off any and all challengers.
Hamlin was ready. So were the fans at Dover.
“You had fans out there who were very enthusiastic when they saw the sun come out,” Hamlin said. “I loved that enthusiasm from the fan base. (NASCAR) wanted to give them all the racing that they could at the end of that race.”
Hamlin made it worthwhile, a fitting finish to a chaotic Dover race weekend, Miles Beach, rain, overtime, and everything in between.
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
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