Hamlin holds off Larson to snag Cup win at Dover
DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin held off a hard-charging Kyle Larson over the final thrilling laps and wiggled through lapped traffic to win the NASCAR Cup race by about a quarter of a second Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway.
Hamlin’s third win of the season tied William Byron for the most this season in the series. Hamlin also picked up his 54th career Cup win, all with Joe Gibbs Racing. He’s tied with Lee Petty for 12th on the career Cup list.
“It’s just fantastic,” Hamlin said. “I couldn’t hold Lee Petty’s helmet.”
Larson finished second and nipped at Hamlin’s bumper for most of the final 25 laps and seemed on the brink of passing the Toyota. Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet just couldn’t close the deal on the mile concrete track. Hamlin took the lead off a restart with about 79 laps left and never let it go, repeatedly closing off Larson at the top of the track.
“I just couldn’t really do anything,” Larson said. “Nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough to do anything.”
Hamlin was soundly booed as he grabbed the checkered flag — boos louder than usual at the track because of a big crowd. He led 136 of the 400 laps.
After rainouts forced Monday races each of the past two years, the sun came out Sunday — and so did the fans. The grandstands were packed and the track came close to its 54,000 capacity. While NASCAR tracks do not release attendance numbers, the crowd was easily the largest at Dover since before the pandemic.
Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott completed the top five.
THE BIG ONE
There was a multicar wreck with 71 laps left in the race that took out Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and William Byron.
Coming off a restart, Zane Smith appeared to get into the left rear of Wallace’s Toyota which sent him into traffic and into Byron and Bell. Wallace was running 11th at the time of the wreck. Bell was 16th and Byron 18th.
ALL-STAR SUB
Kevin Harvick, the 2014 NASCAR champion who retired at the end of last season, will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet in place of Kyle Larson in practice and qualifying for the NASCAR All-Star race.
Larson will stay in Indianapolis on May 17 to practice for the Indianapolis 500 rather than travel to North Wilkesboro Speedway to practice and qualify for the NASCAR All-Star race. He will become the fifth driver in history to attempt to complete “The Double” and run 1,100 miles in one day, starting with the Indianapolis 500 in an IndyCar and then flying to Charlotte to drive in the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race of the year.
UP NEXT
Kansas Speedway, where Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner.
Wisconsin will start true freshman quarterback Carter Smith at No. 2 Indiana on Saturday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel, replacing Danny O’Neil after the sophomore was carted off the field with a right leg injury last week.
O’Neil was injured on a 21-yard keeper during the first quarter of last Saturday’s 13-10 win over then-No. 23 Washington. He had a towel over his head as he was carted to the locker room.
Smith made his season debut following O’Neil’s injury, completing 3 of 12 passes for 8 yards while rushing for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Also available to the Badgers at quarterback is senior Hunter Simmons, who is 48-for-95 for 485 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions this season.
For Indiana, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt is doubtful to play, sources said. Sarratt, who is tied for the Big Ten lead with 10 touchdown receptions, injured his hamstring against Maryland on Nov. 1 and missed the Penn State game last week.
With Indiana having a bye next week, Sarratt is on track to return against Purdue on Nov. 28.
Quarterback issues have hindered Wisconsin all season and throughout coach Luke Fickell’s three-year tenure.
Billy Edwards Jr. was Wisconsin’s first-team quarterback at the start of the season, but he sprained his knee in the second quarter of the Badgers’ opener and has played only one full series since.
Tanner Mordecai missed 3½ games with a broken hand in 2023. Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke tore his ACL in the third game of the 2024 season.
Wisconsin’s intended season-opening starting quarterback has been available for the entirety of only 11 of the 34 games the Badgers have played since the beginning of the 2023 season. The last time Fickell had his season-opening starting quarterback healthy for a full game was in a 27-13 victory over South Dakota on Sept. 7, 2024.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava will not play Saturday against No. 1 Ohio State because of a concussion, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Iamaleava was injured during last week’s loss to Nebraska. He began experiencing concussion symptoms after the game, according to On3, which first reported that Iamaleava would not play.
With Iamaleava out, redshirt sophomore Luke Duncan will make his first career start. Duncan has not attempted a pass in college as he tries to take down the top-ranked Buckeyes.
Iamaleava has thrown for 1,659 yards with 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in his first year with the Bruins after transferring from Tennessee.
He led UCLA to three straight wins in October, including a victory over then-No. 7 Penn State, but the Bruins (3-6) have lost two straight and need to win out to become bowl eligible.
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