Denny Hamlin isn’t just stacking wins this season—he’s building a narrative. At Martinsville, he launched a campaign that said it loud and clear: “11 Against the World.” After dominating that short track race, Hamlin climbed out of his car and waved a custom flag with those exact words. For him, it wasn’t just another win. It was a statement. Asked about the flag, Hamlin explained it with a smirk. “Well, my buddies are Ohio State fans. They always said, ‘Ohio State Against the World.’ So now, it’s ‘11 Against the World,” he said.

That phrase, born from a locker-room mentality, followed him into Darlington a week later. In a Carl Edwards throwback scheme, no less, he pulled off a dramatic win that only added fuel to his growing campaign. Two races. Two wins. And now, “11 Against the World” isn’t just a saying—it’s a warning. Darlington, the Track Too Tough to Tame, gave Hamlin every reason to fall behind.

Denny Hamlin didn’t lead the most laps. He didn’t have the cleanest day. But when it counted, he had everything he needed—a little luck, a quick pit stop, and a helping hand from Kyle Larson. The 2021 Cup Series champion, who had crashed hard just four laps into the race, was 160 laps down as he crashed again with 4 laps to go. This brought out the overtime and a 2 lap shootout, and this worked out in favor of the JGR driver.

That’s when everything changed. Hamlin was running fifth when the caution hit. But his Joe Gibbs Racing crew fired off the fastest four-tire stop of the day. Hamlin beat everyone off pit road. And when the green flag dropped for overtime, he nailed the restart. That was all he needed. He held off a hungry pack, including William Byron, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Blaney.

Despite the relentless charge, Hamlin drove clean and stayed focused. And when he crossed the finish line, it marked his second straight win, fifth career victory at Darlington, and 56th Cup Series win overall. It pushed him to 11th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, just ahead of Rusty Wallace. “There’s two people I really love right now. My pit crew and Kyle Larson,” Hamlin said with a grin in post-race.

The win was more special for Denny Hamlin as he won in Carl Edwards’ throwback paint scheme that was also in front of him. However, in the post-race interview, Hamlin dropped the idea to honor Edwards with his iconic backflip celebration. Instead, he offered to perform it. “I’ll pass. Carl’s here; he’s more than welcome to jump off the car,” he said. Meanwhile, Hamlin also praised his crew for securing two back-to-back wins.

“The pit crew just did an amazing job. They won it last week; they won it this week. It’s all about them. Thanks, Sport Clips. They have such a big deal here in Darlington, South Carolina. Shout out to Gordon and the whole team. We’ll see you on Victory Lane,” he said in a post-race interview. However, Darlington was not so kind.

The one that got away for William Byron!

For most of the race, it looked like William Byron was going to walk away with this one. He led 243 laps—including every single one of the first two stages. His No. 24 team was flawless in the early going, cruising through pit stops and restarts. Byron became just the second driver in the stage racing era to lead every lap in both Stage 1 and Stage 2. But Darlington, they call it “Too Tough to Tame” for a reason.

A long green flag run forced Byron to pit under green, and that’s where the advantage slipped. Hamlin and others pitted, too, but Byron came out behind and never got back to the front. When the caution flew for Larson’s spin and everyone hit pit road again, Byron’s crew couldn’t match the speed of Hamlin’s. He restarted behind and finished second. For a driver who dominated most of the day, this result has to sting.

Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick, who had the lead with less than 10 laps to go, also got shuffled back and wound up finishing fourth. Ryan Blaney, whose Ford Mustang wore a throwback to his dad Dave Blaney’s car, made a serious push in the final laps and finished fifth. Christopher Bell came home third, rounding off the top 5.

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Darlington 2025 Goodyear 400 final race results: