The EchoPark Automotive 400 culminated with Denny Hamlin surviving rain delays, overtime restarts, and a hard-charging teammate to claim victory. Hamlin led 67 of the race’s 407 laps, stretched out by two overtime restarts, and it was that last lap where he dug deepest, pulling off a daring move to edge past Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe for his 58th career win.

“Things were going well before the rain… That was tough, those guys gave me a run for it,” Hamlin said after the triumph, adding, “Winning here at Dover is super special to me.” Briscoe had snatched the lead on the last restart, but Hamlin’s grit shone through as he fought back to the front, leaving Briscoe in second on his bumper. While his epic showing to defend his Dover crown was remarkable, Hamlin was not always the master of the Monster Mile.

In Denny Hamlin’s career, he has 3 wins and 16 top-10 finishes at Dover, but 11 of those top-10s have come after 2015! Debuting in 2006, Hamlin initially struggled to conquer the track, and after his third triumph, he revealed what helped him over the years, paying tribute to a special driver. Hamlin got reflective, saying, “Well, I just studied some of the greats here. Very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate. Jimmie Johnson, watching him win ten times here. You learn from the greats.”

Martin Truex Jr. donned the Joe Gibbs Racing #19 from 2019 to 2024, picking up 2 wins and 6 top-3 finishes in 8 races at Dover for JGR! Mind-boggling numbers that make up a career total of 4 wins and 11 top-5 finishes at Dover for MTJ. Jimmie Johnson, meanwhile, is the king of Dover, netting 11 wins across his career, including a season sweep in his rookie campaign! However, the one difference between Hamlin and these guys is a championship, and with a series-leading 4 wins, could this be the year for Denny? When asked if getting to 60 wins this season was still a goal, Denny replied, “We got a lot left,” signifying ambitions beyond that 60-win mark.

As for the results at Dover, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five, keeping the finish line buzzing. Rain threw a curveball with two delays, including a 56-minute red flag and a final 10-lap shootout that tested everyone’s nerves. Christopher Bell put up a fierce fight, leading 67 laps himself, but spins during restarts, once early in the final stage and again in the last 10 laps, dropped him to 18th. Denny Hamlin also made history in the end by becoming the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win back-to-back Dover races.

What is Martin Truex Jr. up to these days?

Martin Truex Jr. hung up his NASCAR Cup Series helmet at the end of 2024, stepping away from the grind to soak in a quieter life surrounded by nature’s embrace. Always a tranquil soul at heart, the 2017 champion craved nothing more than peaceful days away from the racetrack’s hustle, and it seems he’s hit the jackpot.

His brother Ryan, currently steering the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing in the Xfinity Series, spilled the beans at Dover, saying, “I don’t know what his racing plans are. He’s just pretty much been hanging out and fishing. So, I think he’s enjoying that and enjoying not having a schedule and having his weekends off.” After 19 unflinching seasons without missing a race, seeing this dedicated racer finally unwind brings a warm smile to anyone’s face—a well-deserved break no one could argue with. Will he race again?

His last outing was this season’s Daytona 500, where he hinted, “Probably, yes. We’ll see. It’s a long way from now. So, I have got a lot of stuff to do between now and trying to figure that out again.” That “lot of stuff” lines up with Ryan’s fishing tales, and rushing him out of that joy would feel almost unfair, though watching him race again would be a treat.

Truex still loves stock car racing, admitting at Daytona, “I’m sure I’ll watch some. It won’t be like, ‘No guys, I can’t go do that because I’m going to sit home and watch the race.’ I will watch races. I love racing. I love watching. I watched The Clash.” Interestingly, he recently put his $7.5 million Lake Norman mansion, bought in 2006 for $1.5 million and turned into a European-style retreat, up for sale, hinting he might be trading race-day views for new horizons. However, don’t be surprised to see Truex Jr. in a stock car anytime during the season, as the passion to drive is still alive in the champion.