Denny Hamlin picked up the first win on the concrete at the Bristol Motor Speedway Spring race for the first time since the 2020 race season.
Hamlin held off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. for the win on Sunday afternoon.
Driver No. 11 led a race-high 163 laps and came into Sunday’s race as the defending winner in the fall race.
For Hamlin, Sunday’s win marks his 52nd Cup victory and his fourth Cup series win at Bristol Motor Speedway.
There was only five cars that ended Sunday’s Food City 500 on the lead lap after the green flag pit stops in the later stages of the race and led a final green flag run to the checkered flag which lasted 121 laps.
Rounding out the top five were Martin Truex Jr. in second, Brad Keselowski in third, Alex Bowman in fourth and Kyle Larson in fifth.
Sunday’s race at Bristol saw many tire failures throughout the race. The Goodyear tires did not lay enough rubber down as Goodyear had expected. The excessive wear to the tires caused drivers to spin out sure to right side tires going down.
With his win on Sunday, Hamlin is now the fifth different driver to win a race in his first five races. Hamlin joins William Byron (Daytona 500), Daniel Suarez (Atlanta), Kyle Larson ( Las Vegas) and Denny Hamlin today in (Bristol).
Prior to the start of the race, each team had 10 sets of Goodyear tires. As the tire situation became an issue, NASCAR and Goodyear got en extra set to each team in the early stages of the race.
Once drivers crossed the 50 lap mark, tire wear became a big issue ah handling would go away over time.
Sunday’s race at Bristol had 16 different drivers that led laps during the race. That of which surpassed the record of 40 different lead changes which was set in April of 1991. There were only five drivers that finished on the lead lap.
Rounding out the top ten were John Hunter Nemechek, in sixth, Chris Buescher in seventh, Chase Elliott in eighth, Ty Gibbs in ninth and Christopher Bell in tenth.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Circuit of the Americas next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on FOX.
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Gibbs
Stage 2 Winner: Ty Gibbs
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
About Me: Hi, my name is Matthew I'm 17 from Charlotte, NC. Racing has been something that has interested me my whole life. As a kid my dad would always take me to each of the Charlotte races and the adrenaline you get watching NASCAR's best drivers go around is one like no other. My goal as a writer is to give you the best information possible.
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