Teams split on running a one or two-stop pit strategy in the final stage of Sunday’s race at Richmond Raceway, with William Byron and Martin Truex Jr opting for one stop in the 170-lap stage, while Hamlin and Harvick were among those using two stops.
Byron, on older tyres, managed to hang on to the lead for 71 laps but Hamlin – on fresher rubber – finally ran him down and passed him with four of 400 laps remaining. Hamlin then had to hold off Harvick to earn his first win of the 2022 season by 0.552s.
