Denny Hamlin Wins Wild Race at Bristol

54 lead changes. At Bristol.

Why is this significant? Because it shattered a previous record of 40 for any NASCAR Cup Series short-track race. Not only that, but the biggest theme of Sunday’s Food City 500 was tire management. After there have been plenty of debates about more horsepower, teams, and drivers were thrown a new and unexpected challenge, as now they had to focus on managing their tires with the amount they had. The track began to eat up the tires just 45 laps into a run, causing NASCAR to bring out an extra set for every team, but that was it.

It was a fascinating and entertaining race to witness, as Denny Hamlin would hold off his teammate Martin Truex Jr for his 52nd career win and his first of 2024.

Goodyear did bring the same tire that was used for the night race back in the fall of 2023. Instead of the concrete surface taking in the rubber, marbles began to accumulate on the top part of the racing surface. One major difference involves the temperature, as it was about 10-15 degrees cooler than it was in the fall. NASCAR also decided to use resign in the bottom lane for the race as well. Despite the craziness, Denny Hamlin believes that scenarios like these are what helped him win the race.

“That’s what I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston, Martinsville,” said Hamlin, who grew up in Chesterfield, Virginia. “Once it became a tire-management race, I really liked our chances.

“Obviously, the veteran in Martin, he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car, great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them. Man, it feels so good to win in Bristol.”

Truex took the lead on lap 483, but then lost it a lap later and wasn’t able to fight back and catch back up to Hamlin.

“Apparently, that’s what I needed to have happen here at Bristol to have a shot at winning — I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol,” Truex said.

“Man, the difference was just coming out of the pits so far behind Denny (after green-flag pit stops during the final run). I had to use mine up more on the last run. The last four, five laps of the race, was cord.”

Joe Gibbs Racing was the team to beat, as Hamlin led for a race-high of 163 laps. 383 of the 500 laps were led by all four Joe Gibbs Toyotas. Ty Gibbs led for 137, Martin Truex Jr led for 54, and Christopher Bell led for 29.

Brad Keselowski, still searching for his first win since 2021, finished third, while Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished out the top five and the lead lap. Only five cars finished on the lead lap, the fewest since Dover back in June 2004.

John Hunter Nemechek supplied an impressive run for Legacy Motor Club as he finished sixth, with Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell rounding out the top ten.

Another team to give a shoutout to is Rick Ware Racing. At one point, both Kaz Grala and Justin Haley ran inside the top 15, and at times the top ten. Justin Haley had an average running position of 14.7 and Kaz Grala had an average running position of 18.8. This surpassed the previous best average running position by any Rick Ware Racing car in the Cup Series.

Daytona 500 winner William Byron hit the wall on lap 21, taking him out of contention and putting him several laps down. He would finish 35th.

The Cup Series takes on road course racing for the first time this season at the Circuit of the Americas, that race will be on Sunday, March 24th at 3:30 pm EST.