The political symbolism behind Denny Hamlin’s Dover win

Denny Hamlin entered the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway with a chip on his shoulder. Just days before the race, his 23XI Racing team and Front Row Motorsports formally had their charters revoked by NASCAR after a court ruled in the sanctioning body’s favour.

For him to score the victory on Sunday likely felt like a good way to spit in NASCAR’s face amidst the ongoing legal battle.

On Thursday, federal judge Kenneth Bell rejected 23XI and FRM’s request for a temporary restraining order that prevented NASCAR from taking away their charters; Bell explained the order was unnecessary since it was unlikely either team would fail to qualify for any races in the immediate future nor were sponsors and drivers—who have openly stood by their teams so far—preparing to leave.

The teams are seeking another injunction to restore the order, but in the meantime intend to continue racing as Open cars. Without a charter, they receive far less prize money than those with charters and are not guaranteed spots in the race, meaning they must qualify for each event on time.

The latter is unlikely to be a concern for now as NASCAR Cup Series races typically do not draw more than the maximum 40 cars save for marquee events like the Daytona 500 and Chicago Street Race; ironically, a non-chartered 23XI car (Corey Heim) failed to qualify for Chicago two weeks ago.

Hamlin, as one of the lead plaintiffs in the case and arguably the most outspoken driver in the industry today, proclaimed on Saturday that “if you want answers, (if) you want to understand why all this is happening, come December 1st. You’ll get the answers that you’re looking for. All will be exposed.”

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While a vague declaration for something that won’t happen for another four months, he can still rub it in NASCAR’s face until then by winning on his own.

Chase Elliott had dominated the race for Hendrick Motorsports, a team that many consider NASCAR’s “golden boys” and one of the signatory to the controversial charter agreement that prompted 23XI and FRM to sue. After an hour-long rain delay, however, Hamlin took the lead on Lap 241 and never let go.

Hamlin’s job is not jeopardised by the lawsuit since he races for Joe Gibbs Racing rather than his own team, though this meant Sunday culminated in a battle with his own colleague for the victory. Chase Briscoe managed to keep close and Hamlin conceded he probably would have had an opportunity to take the lead on him, but Briscoe opted against racing aggressively lest he take out his own team-mate for the win.

A series of strong restarts by Hamlin, including in both overtimes, proved to be the difference. The victory is his fourth of 2025 after Martinsville, Darlington, and Michigan.

“It’s a team-mate, you got to sit down and you got to see that guy tomorrow afternoon. It’s just a little different in that aspect,” Hamlin commented. “Right before we went back (racing, during the rain delay), me and Christopher (Bell) were walking back to our cars. I said, ‘Just don’t wipe me out’.

“I was afraid because we got old tyres and I don’t know what the grip level of the track was. I just didn’t want JGR cleaning itself out and somebody else win it. I think, truthfully, he probably laid off of me there off of (Turn) 4 and ended up wrecking himself because he didn’t want to have the big contact.

“It was good, hard racing. Ultimately, I got the better end of all the restarts in the end. It was certainly stressful to have to overcome those three overtime finishes there, or however many cautions it was. It was a tough battle.”

Battle of the Tys

The NASCAR In-Season Challenge will come down to a duel between drivers with the same first name as the sixth-seeded Ty Gibbs battles the 32nd-ranked Cinderella story Ty Dillon. Whoever of the two finishes higher than the other at next Sunday’s race at Indianapolis earns USD$1 million.

Ironically, Gibbs‘ matchup for the semi-final at Dover was against a technical ally in Tyler Reddick: Gibbs races for the family-run Joe Gibbs Racing while Reddick is Hamlin’s employee at 23XI. Although Reddick is higher than Gibbs in the standings, he finished 12th while Gibbs scored his fourth top-five finish of the season.

“I’m glad we got to go back racing here in Dover,” said Gibbs. “Great finish for us. Good day, but I wish we could have had a little more track position. It was so hard to pass there.”

Meanwhile, Dillon’s road to the final round could be described as one of miracles. He was the lowest seeded driver of the 32 participants, which matched him up against top-ranked Hamlin at Atlanta; nearly everyone predicted an easy Hamlin victory, only for him to crash out while Dillon survived to move on. In the next round at Chicago, Dillon battled to a 20th-place finish while Brad Keselowski was collected in a wreck.

While one might chalk up the first two rounds to dumb luck since his opponent retired in each, his next adversary Alex Bowman went the full distance at Sonoma. This battle came down to the final corner, where Dillon pushed Bowman aside to finish 17th and ahead of the eighth seed by just two spots.

Then came Dover. Again, the critics might point out that Atlanta is a superspeedway while Chicago and Sonoma were road courses, whereas Dover is an oval and thus where Dillon’s good fortune will likely run out. After all, John Hunter Nemechek was the 12th seed and on the verge of cracking the top 20 in points whereas Dillon was barely 30th.

Nemechek and Dillon had quiet days prior to the weather delay, both running in the mid-twenties and falling a lap down. When the rain arrived, Nemechek was 24th to Dillon’s 25th so the two resumed the race right by each other.

Dillon barely passed Nemechek as the two moved into 21st and 22nd, respectively. When the leaders crashed on Lap 400, Dillon was the first car a lap down and therefore earned the free pass to rejoin the lead lap, while Nemechek was left one lap back.

With Nemechek pinned down, Dillon was safe to reach the finish and punch his ticket to the final round.

Going into Indianapolis, the odds are quite stacked against Dillon. While Gibbs also has yet to win in the Cup Series, he races for one of the top teams in NASCAR and is on the playoff cutline at 16th. Conversely, Dillon left Dover a paltry 30th in points.

Of course, if Dillon’s journey to the final round is any indicator, anything can happen.

NASCAR 2025 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 – Results