“The Lady in Black” lived up to her name once again. Darlington Raceway earned that title for a reason; here, the high lines are so tight that drivers often kiss the wall just trying to survive the corners. And this Sunday, Kyle Larson learned that the hard way. One unexpected move, and boom! He got out of the race and took Ryan Blaney with him – a wreck that cracked the door wide open for Denny Hamlin, who didn’t waste the opportunity. But even with the win in hand, Hamlin showed nothing but respect for Roger Penske’s star. How? Let’s find out!

With just four laps to go, Kyle Larson spun out and threw the whole race into chaos. That caution brought everyone to the pit lane. Hamlin’s crew crushed it – the best stop of the day, no question – and that pit magic handed Denny the lead heading into overtime. He nailed the restart while Reddick slipped just a bit, and that’s all Hamlin needed. He cruised through those final two laps while the battle for second got wild behind him. Byron snagged it, then came Bell, Reddick, and Blaney. But after all that, Denny didn’t just flex the win; he showed love for Blaney with some raw, honest words. That’s what sportsmanship looks like, even when the stakes are sky-high.

On the latest episode of his podcast, Denny Hamlin didn’t sugarcoat anything. “He [Ryan Blaney] definitely was better,” Hamlin admitted. “We pitted the same lap… he was behind me for maybe 20 or 25 laps, and on the long run, he just was superior.” That’s straight-up respect. Denny also admitted he wasn’t exactly feeling it that day. “I thought we still didn’t have the speed I was necessarily looking for… didn’t have the handling we needed.” But then fate stepped in. Kyle Larson’s late spin flipped the entire race upside down. What ended up being a golden opportunity for Hamlin, was once Blaney’s moment – and he knows it.

“If the caution didn’t come out, I thought we had one easily,” Ryan Blaney said after the race and honestly, he might’ve been right. He spent most of the afternoon playing catch-up thanks to some pit-stop slip-ups that cost him key track positions. Even Denny Hamlin concurred, saying, “You expose yourself for such a long part of the run because if a caution falls at all, before the end of the race, you didn’t have all the time that you needed to get back to your original position.” Man! It’s a tough break for Blaney, who had the speed but not the timing – and in racing, that’s everything.

Denny Hamlin tips the helmet to his pit wizards after track tactics turn gold

Denny Hamlin tipped his helmet to the real MVPs of Sunday’s Goodyear 400, his pit crew. A perfectly timed final stop by his Joe Gibbs Racing team gave him just what he needed: the lead during a late caution and the edge for the overtime restart. Hamlin nailed it, pulling his No. 11 Toyota out front and holding off the pack for a 0.597-second victory at Darlington. That win marked his 56th career triumph, pushing him past Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 11th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.

It also made it two in a row for Hamlin, who also won last weekend at Martinsville. That’s his first back-to-back since 2012. Climbing out of the car all smiles, Hamlin made it clear who deserved the praise. “There’s two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson,” he said, grinning. “Had a little assist there, so thank you.” Larson’s late spin helped bring out the caution that flipped the race, and Hamlin’s crew didn’t waste it. “The pit crew just did an amazing job,” he added. “They won it last week. They won it this week. It’s all about them.”

NASCAR is a sport where seconds make legends, and Hamlin’s crew coming in clutch in key victories just proves that it takes a team work to make the dream work. Denny knows the back-to-back wins came with solid backing from the garage – a total team flex. And right now, the No. 11 squad might be the hottest in NASCAR.