Hamlin Dominates the NASCAR Cup Race at Martinsville

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MARTINSVILLE, VA – Denny Hamlin dominated the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville, Virginia on Sunday.  Hamlin ended a 19-race winless streak at his home-state track, fending off a furious challenge by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell to win at Martinsville Speedway.

Chritopher Bell finished second by 4.617 seconds, and Bubba Wallace was third as Toyota drivers swept the top three spots. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.

It was 10 years and a day since Hamlin's previous victory at the 0.526-mile oval in Virginia that is a few hours from where he grew up in the Richmond suburb of Chesterfield.

Hamlin leads active NASCAR Cup Series drivers with six victories at Martinsville, but Sunday was his first checkered flag on the 0.526-mile oval in southwest Virginia since March 29, 2015. Hamlin was a frequent contender during his 19-race win drought at Martinsville, posting 10 top fives and leading 226 laps.

Josh Berry continued to look competitive all day, Berry’s Ford was hit in the left rear by Bubba Wallace's No. 23 Toyota while exiting the pits during the race's second caution. Berry's car stalled in Turn 2 and then lost two laps for repairs. who led 40 laps by staying on track during the first yellow. He still managed to lead the most laps for Wood Brothers Racing at Martinsville Speedway since NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson led 180 laps on April 29, 1973. That was the most recent victory for the team at its hometown track just east of its origins in Stuart, Virginia.

The Wood Brothers Racing team was honored Sunday morning with a proclamation from Virginia's General Assembly, honoring the team's 75th anniversary season.

Hamlin was dominate, but Christopher Bell was right behind him.  Series points leader William Byron struggled with his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet all afternoon, failing to lead a lap for the first time this season en route to a 22nd-place finish. Defending series champion Joey Logano won Stage 1 and earned his first 2025 top 10, recovering from a late spin to come home ninth in the final stage.

Series points leader William Byron struggled with his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet all afternoon, failing to lead a lap for the first time this season en route to a 22nd-place finish. Defending series champion Joey Logano won Stage 1 and earned his first 2025 top 10, recovering from a late spin to come home ninth in the final stage.

Unofficial Results: Cook Out 400, March 30, 2025 - Martinsville Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 5, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Progressive Toyota, 400, 9, 1, 2, 274, 6, 53, Running
2) 1, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DEWALT Outdoors Toyota, 400, , 8, 3, 25, , 38, Running
3) 8, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 400, , 3, , , , 42, Running
4) 2, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 400, 8, 2, 2, 42, , 45, Running
5) 4, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 400, , 9, , , , 34, Running
6) 17, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Choice Privileges Chevrolet, 400, , 7, , , , 35, Running
7) 21, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Fastenal Ford, 400, 7, , , , , 34, Running
8) 7, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 400, 1, , 1, 13, 1, 39, Running
9) 11, Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 400, , 5, , , , 34, Running
10) 25, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Colortech Ford, 400, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 32, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, 400, , 6, , , , 31, Running
12) 15, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Rockingham Speedway Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 13, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 400, , 4, , , , 31, Running
14) 9, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Mobil 1/O'Reilly Auto Parts Toyota, 400, , 10, , , , 24, Running
15) 28, Ty Dillon, No. 10 Mark III Employee Benefits Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 19, Zane Smith, No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford, 400, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 12, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 18, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 29, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 34, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 SUNNYD Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 26, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 10, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 23, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Black's Tire Chevrolet, 399, 3, , , , , 22, Running
24) 31, Erik Jones, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota, 399, 5, , , , , 19, Running
25) 6, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Kroger/Old El Paso Ford, 399, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 16, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota, 399, 6, , , , , 16, Running
27) 27, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 399, 4, , , , , 17, Running
28) 3, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 399, 2, , 1, 6, , 18, Running
29) 30, Justin Haley, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 24, Noah Gragson, No. 4 A&W Root Beer Ford, 397, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 36, Cody Ware, No. 51 Arby's Ford, 396, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 35, Riley Herbst #, No. 35 Lucy Toyota, 396, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 14, Josh Berry, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 396, , , 1, 40, , 4, Running
34) 22, Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 394, 10, , , , , 4, Running
35) 33, Shane Van Gisbergen #, No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 394, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 37, Casey Mears (*), No. 66 Canter Power Systems Ford, 389, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 38, Burt Myers (*), No. 50 C3 Chevrolet, 388, , , , , , 1, Running
38) 20, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Jack Links Ford, 363, , , , , , 1, Electrical


Total Race Length: 400 Laps, 210.4 Miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 5 Mins, 11 Secs.
Average Speed: 68.17 MPH
Margin of Victory: 4.617 Seconds

Fastest Lap Bonus: No. 11, lap 195, 20.188 sec

Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 48, 16, 6, 43, 42, 60, 9, 11, 41
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 9, 23, 54, 19, 12, 1, 20, 5, 45

Comments: Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, his 55th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Cautions: 10 for 86 laps;
Laps: 32-39 (Debris Turn 4 [66]);
72-78 (No. 17 Incident Frontstretch [66]);
82-92 (Stage 1 Conclusion [17]);
123-131 (No. 50 Stopped Turn 1 [66]);
182-193 (Stage 2 Conclusion [47]);
202-207 (Nos. 35, 2 Incident Turn 1 [88]);
276-286 (No. 88 Spin Turn 4 [43]);
299-306 (Nos. 54, 38, 45 Incident Turn 2 [17]);
310-315 (Nos. 17, 4 Incident Turn 2 [47]);
318-325 (Nos. 19, 22 Incident Turn 2 [42]).

Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers;
C. Bell 1-23;
C. Elliott 24-32;
C. Bell 33;
J. Berry 34-73;
J. Logano 74-86;
A. Bowman 87-92;
C. Elliott 93-125;
D. Hamlin 126-325;
C. Bell 326;
D. Hamlin 327-400.
(i) Ineligible for driver points, (#) Rookie

Unofficial Points: Cook Out 400, Martinsville Speedway
Pos, Driver, Car, Starts, GL, Points, Ldr, Nxt, Race Wins, Stage Wins, Playoff Pts
1) William Byron, 24, 7, 0, 259, 0, 0, 1, 1, 6
2) Kyle Larson, 5, 7, 0, 243, -16, 16, 1, 2, 7
3) Chase Elliott, 9, 7, 3, 227, -32, 16, 0, 0, 0
4) Christopher Bell, 20, 7, 1, 224, -35, 3, 3, 1, 16
5) Alex Bowman, 48, 7, -2, 224, -35, 0, 0, 0, 0
6) Denny Hamlin, 11, 7, 2, 218, -41, 6, 1, 2, 7
7) Tyler Reddick, 45, 7, -3, 213, -46, 5, 0, 0, 0
8) Bubba Wallace, 23, 7, -1, 208, -51, 5, 0, 1, 1
9) Joey Logano, 22, 7, 2, 199, -60, 9, 0, 2, 2
10) Ryan Blaney, 12, 7, 0, 193, -66, 6, 0, 2, 2
11) Chris Buescher, 17, 7, -2, 177, -82, 16, 0, 0, 0
12) Chase Briscoe, 19, 7, 1, 169, -90, 8, 0, 0, 0
13) Ross Chastain, 1, 7, 1, 169, -90, 0, 0, 0, 0
14) Ryan Preece, 60, 7, 2, 165, -94, 4, 0, 1, 1
15) Michael McDowell, 71, 7, 0, 159, -100, 6, 0, 0, 0
16) Kyle Busch, 8, 7, 1, 150, -109, 9, 0, 0, 0
17) John Hunter Nemechek, 42, 7, 1, 148, -111, 2, 0, 0, 0
18) AJ Allmendinger, 16, 7, 2, 148, -111, 0, 0, 0, 0
19) Josh Berry, 21, 7, -7, 147, -112, 1, 1, 1, 6
20) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 47, 7, -1, 146, -113, 1, 0, 0, 0
21) Daniel Suarez, 99, 7, 1, 125, -134, 21, 0, 0, 0
22) Todd Gilliland, 34, 7, 4, 125, -134, 0, 0, 0, 0
23) Zane Smith, 38, 7, 2, 124, -135, 1, 0, 0, 0
24) Austin Cindric, 2, 7, -3, 122, -137, 2, 0, 1, 1
25) Ty Dillon, 10, 7, 4, 117, -142, 5, 0, 0, 0
26) Justin Haley, 7, 7, -2, 114, -145, 3, 0, 0, 0
27) Austin Dillon, 3, 7, 1, 114, -145, 0, 0, 0, 0
28) Carson Hocevar, 77, 7, -1, 113, -146, 1, 0, 0, 0
29) Erik Jones, 43, 7, -6, 108, -151, 5, 0, 0, 0
30) Brad Keselowski, 6, 7, 0, 102, -157, 6, 0, 0, 0
31) Ty Gibbs, 54, 7, 3, 99, -160, 3, 0, 0, 0
32) Noah Gragson, 4, 7, 0, 90, -169, 9, 0, 0, 0
33) Riley Herbst #, 35, 7, -2, 89, -170, 1, 0, 0, 0
34) Shane Van Gisbergen #, 88, 7, -1, 80, -179, 9, 0, 0, 0
35) Cole Custer, 41, 7, 0, 62, -197, 18, 0, 0, 0
36) Jimmie Johnson, , 1, 0, 34, -225, 28, 0, 0, 0
37) Cody Ware, 51, 7, 0, 34, -225, 0, 0, 0, 0
38) Corey Lajoie, , 2, 0, 21, -238, 13, 0, 0, 0
39) Katherine Legge, , 1, 0, 7, -252, 14, 0, 0, 0
40) Jj Yeley, , 2, 0, 3, -256, 4, 0, 0, 0
41) * Casey Mears, 66, 1, -41, 2, -257, 1, 0, 0, 0
42) * Burt Myers, 50, 1, -42, 1, -258, 1, 0, 0, 0
43) Martin Truex, Jr, , 1, -2, 1, -258, 0, 0, 0, 0
44) Justin Allgaier(i), , 1, -2, 0, -259, 1, 0, 0, 0
45) Bj Mcleod(i), , 1, -2, 0, -259, 0, 0, 0, 0
46) Connor Zilisch(i), , 1, -2, 0, -259, 0, 0, 0, 0
47) Helio Castroneves, , 1, 0, 0, -259, 0, 0, 0, 0
48) Anthony Alfredo(i), , 0, -2, 0, -259, 0, 0, 0, 0
49) Chandler Smith(i), , 0, -4, 0, -259, 0, 0, 0, 0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, 
(i) Ineligible for driver points, (#) Rookie