NASCAR Cup Bristol: Hamlin cruises to win as playoff…

NASCAR Cup Bristol: Hamlin cruises to win as playoff field cut to 12

In a race that battled to find a rhythm in part due to battles with the weather, Hamlin took control in the second half after he grabbed the lead from his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team-mate Ty Gibbs with 141 of 500 laps remaining.

As the race remained caution-free the rest of the way, Hamlin was not seriously challenged and cruised to a 2.437-second win over Kyle Larson, who had started dead last in the race, while Gibbs fell to fifth.

Hamlin's third win of 2023 wasn't straightforward. He was penalised for speeding during a pitstop under the first caution of the race, triggered when Austin Cindric and A.J. Allmendinger wrecked on the frontstretch, and had to restart from the rear of the field. Larson had suffered a similar fate for running over equipment.

After being met by a cascade of boos from the crowd, Hamlin lauded his team's performance. He had shown himself to have a car capable of winning the first two playoff races, but the best he had come away with was runner-up last weekend at Kansas after a late caution swung the advantage in favour of Tyler Reddick.

"So happy about the way we're running, can't wait to keep going," Hamlin said. "It's our year, I just feel like we've got it all put together.

"We've got the speed every single type of race track. Nothing to stop us at this point."

Asked if the boos were a motivating factor, Hamlin said, "Hey, I beat your favorite driver, all of 'em."

Fellow JGR driver Christopher Bell, who won the first two stages and led the most laps (187) eventually finished third, Chris Buescher was fourth ahead of Gibbs.

Race winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry (Photo by: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Images)

Completing the top-10 were Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, William Byron and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

However, the result wasn't enough to keep McDowell and Daytona 500 winner Stenhouse in contention for the championship with the completion of the first round of the playoffs.

The duo fail to progress to the Round of 12 along with reigning series champion Logano, who was forced into retirement after sustaining heavy damage to his left-rear corner when hit by a spinning Corey LaJoie, and the retiring Kevin Harvick after the 2014 Cup champion made contact with the wall a couple times and finished five laps down.

Martin Truex Jr. remains in title contention after he got into the wall and brought out the sixth caution of the race. He's joined in the Round of 12 by Byron, Hamlin, Larson, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Bell, Reddick, Ross Chastain, Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace.

NASCAR Cup Bristol Race Result:

Driver Info

Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Toyota	500	2:48'20.637		8	47
2	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	500	+2.437	2.437	9	46
3	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	500	+5.098	2.661	7	54
4	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17	Ford	500	+9.206	4.108	9	37
5	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	500	+9.237	0.031	9	42
6	M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	500	+10.196	0.959	9	36
7	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	500	+15.325	5.129	8	31
8	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6	Ford	500	+15.795	0.470	9	33
9	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	500	+16.113	0.318	8	38
10	R. Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing	47	Chevrolet	500	+16.128	0.015	9	27
11	C. Hocevar Legacy Motor Club	42	Chevrolet	499	+1 Lap	1 Lap	8
12	R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing	41	Ford	499	+1 Lap	3.702	8	27
13	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48	Chevrolet	499	+1 Lap	1.891	9	24
14	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23	Toyota	499	+1 Lap	0.292	7	31
15	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45	Toyota	499	+1 Lap	0.192	8	28
16	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	499	+1 Lap	0.202	8	21
17	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	499	+1 Lap	0.894	10	20
18	A. Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing	10	Ford	499	+1 Lap	7.814	9	19
19	M. Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	498	+2 Laps	1 Lap	9	20
20	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8	Chevrolet	498	+2 Laps	6.168	9	17
21	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99	Chevrolet	498	+2 Laps	6.108	8	16
22	R. Blaney Team Penske	12	Ford	498	+2 Laps	0.181	9	15
23	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	498	+2 Laps	2.645	9	19
24	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43	Chevrolet	497	+3 Laps	1 Lap	8	13
25	C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports	7	Chevrolet	497	+3 Laps	11.569	11	21
26	J. Yeley Rick Ware Racing	15	Ford	495	+5 Laps	2 Laps	9
27	C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing	14	Ford	495	+5 Laps	1.322	9	10
28	H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	495	+5 Laps	1.049	10	9
29	K. Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing	4	Ford	495	+5 Laps	8.470	9	8
30	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16	Chevrolet	491	+9 Laps	4 Laps	10	7
31	B. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports	78	Chevrolet	490	+10 Laps	1 Lap	11
32	A. Cindric Team Penske	2	Ford	488	+12 Laps	2 Laps	11	5
33	T. Dillon Spire Motorsports	77	Chevrolet	263	+237 Laps	225 Laps	9	4	Accident
34	J. Logano Team Penske	22	Ford	262	+238 Laps	1 Lap	7	3	Accident
35	J. Haley Kaulig Racing	31	Chevrolet	261	+239 Laps	1 Lap	8	2	Accident
36	R. Newman Rick Ware Racing	51	Ford	260	+240 Laps	1 Lap	8	1	Accident
View full results

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