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Denny Hamlin took the lead in a final pit stop under Yellow and won in Darlington Raceway in overtime for his second consecutive cup victory.
William Byron, who dominated the race, finished second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Blaney, who led with three rounds in the scheduled distance when the final caution for a turn flew by Kyle Larson.
After Hamlin appeared out of the pits with the lead in front of Reddick and Byron, Hamlin easily led the last two-ski shooting. He had 0.597 seconds in his no. 11 Toyota won.
To win Last week at Martinsville Speedway to end a 31-raceless droughtHamlin achieved his 56th career victory to break a draw with Rusty Wallace for 11th place on the everyday winning list in the leading series of Nascar.
“There are two people I really love now,” Hamlin, who only led twice for ten rounds, told FS1’s Regan Smith. ‘My put staff and Kyle Larson. So there was a little help there, so thank you. The pit staff did just an incredible job. They were doing this last week. They were busy this week. It’s about them. ‘
Blaney fell from first to fourth on the last pit stop. He chased Reddick to take the lead on the lap 290. Blaney was just a few kilometers from his first win from the season when the caution flew to Larson, apparently barking by Reddick’s teammate Bubba Wallace when Larson delayed the wall.
“Oh no,” Blaney said laughingly as he was asked by Jamie Little of FS1 about the last stop. “I thought we won the race, so I don’t really know. I will have to see the repetition of how the yellow came out and looked back. We did a good job. ‘ A good strategy to run a long time and give us time to run down (Reddick) and many of the guys who were short. It was a wonderful call and wonderful car.
“Just really had to control the race really quickly and never really. Nothing really went on the way. Pit Road, we have to work a little, and the warning that comes out during the cycle has traced us back. I felt that we were just keeping up places. I am very proud of the 12 people to give me a quick car, it really wouldn’t just be. ‘
Reddick sat on the lap 240 of 297 and eight laps later in his no. 45 Toyota taken.
Byron led the first 243 rounds on the 1.366 mile oval before his strategy went wrong on the final pit stop for his no. 24 Chevrolet.
Byron placed on the lap 244 of 293, two rounds behind Bell and four laps behind Reddick. After mixing on the track behind Reddick and Bell, Byron fell in third place for a few seconds from the lead.
“Just very proud of my team,” Byron told Jamie Little. ‘In order to achieve that level of effort and preparation and have such a car, and that we would perform, it seems to be a perfect race. We would lead every shot. So was very proud of it. The guys could only be aggressive on the other side of the green flag cycle, and we lost control there.
“It sucks. I’m sure it will stab a lot tonight. There are still a lot of positive. It stabs in the moment. ‘
Byron swept both phases by leading the first 185 rounds. He has only become the second manager since the arrival of stage races in 2017 to lead each round of the first two phases.
Byron also became the first manager to win a stage in Darlington while leding wire to wire.
Phase 1 winner: Byron
Phase 2 winner: Byron
Next: Sunday 13 April, 15:00 ET at Bristol Motor Speedway on FS1
