NASCAR has its second multi-race winner of the 2024 Cup season in as many weeks. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin won the Toyota 400 Owners' Race at Richmond on Sunday. It came a week after William Byron won at Austin to become the first driver this season to win two Cup races this year.
It is symbolic if for no other reason that Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing will be the two dominant teams in 2024 and both have a driver with two wins.
Hamlin has excelled on the short tracks this year. He also won at Bristol. Although points did not count, Hamlin won the clash at the Coliseum this season.
Here are this week's winners and losers at Richmond Raceway.
Winners
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin did not have the fastest car on the track at Richmond Sunday night. This was his teammate Martin Truex Jr. But a late caution was issued when Kyle Larson's car broke loose and Bubba Wallace hit him sending him into a spin, triggering a caution flag and extra time. Hamlin beat Truex off pit road and rolled off the field. And yes, Hamlin may have started with a few feet early in the second half. However, it was close enough that NASCAR wouldn't do anything.
Joey Logano
It wasn't a win, but it was the kind of performance Logano probably needs to start his season. Logano's previous best finish came in Las Vegas, where he finished ninth. Ford is still winless in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. But this was the night Ford needed with a second-place finish for Logano and top-10 finishes rounded out by Brad Keselowski (eighth) and Chris Buescher (ninth).
Nascar and Goodyear Tire
It was a complete fiasco at Bristol with tires being shredded throughout the Food City 500. Sunday at Richmond, NASCAR and Goodyear soon had a big win when they rolled out their rain tires for the start of the Toyota Owners Championship 400. Not only did the tires stick together, which Competitive racing is allowed.
Losers
Kyle Busch
Busch's problems continue in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond. Busch finished 20th. He hit the wall on lap 170, which resulted in a caution. This marks his fourth top-20 finish or worse in the past five Cup races.
more: NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard for Toyota Owners 400
Martin Truex Jr
Truex had the best car of the night and was on the verge of winning his first NASCAR Cup race of 2024. Then Larson spun, thanks to Wallace, and a late caution came out, forcing overtime. That was the beginning of bad luck for the NASCAR Cup Series leader. Hamlin, Truex's teammate, hit him outside the pits. He was unable to get past him at the beginning of the second half. He then chose to crash into the side of Larson's car and post-race hit the back of Hamlin's bumper several times. He ranked fourth.
Bubba Wallace
Wallace had a potential top-5 car before losing and Larson took advantage late to bring out the caution and force overtime. Then his team struggled in the final leg and ended up in thirteenth place. To put that into perspective, Wallace hasn't had a top-5 finish since he was top-5 at Atlanta. His best result since then came at Richmond.
Contact Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or [email protected] and on the X platform @Kreager.
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