Denny 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.
Bell finished second by 4.617 seconds, and Bubba Wallace was third as Toyota drivers swept the top three spots. The Chevrolets of 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 and also his first with crew chief Chris Gayle, who joined the No. 11 team this season.
With the 55th victory of his career (tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 11th on the all-time list), Hamlin also snapped a 31-race winless skid since last April at Dover. He led a race-high 274 of the final 275 laps after taking the lead from Elliott.
“Chris Gayle, all the engineers, the pit crew, everybody really just deciding they were going to come here with a different approach than what we’ve been over the last few years,” Hamlin, who was a frequent contender during his 19-race win drought at Martinsville with 10 top fives, told Fox Sports’ Jamie Little. “It was just amazing. The car was great. It did everything I needed it do to. Just so happy to win with Chris, get 55. Gosh, I love winning here.”
Bell, who leads the Cup Series with three wins in 2025, finished second, and Bubba Wallace took third as Toyotas swept the top three. The Chevrolets of Elliott and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.
“It was a great weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Bell, who had finished outside the top 10 the past two weeks, told Fox Sports’ Regan Smith. “Showed a lot of pace. All four of the cars were really good. Really happy to get back up front. The last two weeks have been rough for this 20 team. Really happy for Denny. He’s the Martinsville master. Second is not that bad.”
Hamlin had to survive four restarts – and a few strong challenges from Bell – in the final 125 laps as Martinsville produced the typical short-track skirmishes between several drivers. The most notable multicar accident involved Toyota drivers Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick, who had a civil postrace discussion in the pits.
Wallace tied a season best and improved to eighth in the Cup points standings but was left lamenting his lack of speed in the No. 23 Toyota on restarts after being unable to pressure Hamlin.
“I’m trying to scratch my head on what I could have done different,” he said. “My restarts were terrible. One of my best traits, so I need to go back and study that. The final restart, I let that second get away. I don’t know if I had anything for Denny. It would have been fun to try. But all in all, a hell of a day for Toyota.”
The frustration continued at Martinsville for Elliott, who has six top 10s in the past seven races at track but remains winless there since his 2020 championship season.
“Yeah, I thought our car was really good, honestly,” said Elliott, who led 42 laps but never made it back to the front after yielding the lead to Hamiln on Lap 126 of 400. “Thought our team did a good job yesterday, leading into the weekend, certainly getting this thing where it needed to be I thought for a balance for today. Yeah, all that was really good. Just needed control of the race.
“I really needed to get to Denny there at the end of that second stage and try to get control. I knew the second half everybody was going to be better and closer. Just that little bit of being able to control this thing from that point forward means a lot. Unfortunately, I didn’t do a great job getting to him. I was trying, just came up a few car lengths short. Yeah, just puts you in a tough spot trying to play catch-up and whatnot. Yeah, solid day. We need more than solid. So we’ll keep trucking.”
After a rash of pit problems throughout the first six races this season (documented in this story by NBC Sports’ Dustin Long), Josh Berry became the latest victim during the first stage at Martinsville.
Berry’s No. 21 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.
It was a tough break for Berry, 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.
Wood Brothers Racing was honored Sunday morning with a proclamation from Virginia’s General Assembly, honoring the team’s 75th anniversary season.
Stage 1 winner: Joey Logano
Stage 2 winner: Denny Hamlin
Next: Sunday, April 6, 3 p.m. ET at Darlington Raceway on FS1
