‘It was 100% real’: Jeff Gordon on his rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Sr.
NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon takes us inside his rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Sports Seriously
- Denny Hamlin won his fourth race of the season at the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
- Ty Dillon and Ty Gibbs will compete in the final round of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge for a $1 million prize.
- Joey Logano broke Richard Petty’s record for youngest driver to reach 600 Cup Series starts.
Here is Denny Hamlin’s Sunday story.
“Things were going pretty well there before the rain,” he said on the TNT broadcast after winning the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. “Then, obviously, had to endure.”
For a long time.
With 17 laps to go, Hamlin was the leader separating from second-place Christopher Bell when the caution flag emerged for Ross Chastain. With 14 to go and the race still under yellow, the rain hit.
Action stalled for an hour, all while Hamlin waited in first place. He even had enough time to change his sweat-soaked suit.
When the restart finally arrived with eight laps remaining, Hamlin outgunned Bell, only for Bell to spin and bring out another caution.
Another yellow flag waved during the first overtime period, and Hamlin, on old tires, maintained his lead in double OT. He beat Chase Briscoe by 0.31 seconds. Alex Bowman snatched third.
“It was tough,” Hamlin said. “Those guys gave me a run for it, no doubt about it. But this whole Progressive Toyota team just did amazing.”
The victory is the 58th of his Cup Series career and his third at Dover. It’s his fourth win of the season, which tops the circuit.
In total, Hamlin led 67 laps.
Chase Elliott led a race-high 238. He won Stage 1 and slotted sixth. Bell claimed Stage 2.
What else happened? Let’s break it down.
1. NASCAR In-Season Challenge bracket trims to 2 drivers
It’s a battle of Ty.
NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge is down to two drivers: Ty Dillon vs. Ty Gibbs.
Dillon settled into 20th at Dover, edging John Hunter Nemechek, who followed in 21st. With a fifth-place finish, Gibbs defeated Tyler Reddick, who ended up 12th.
As the 32nd seed, Dillon was the final driver to make the field. He now has survived four rounds to advance to the finals. Gibbs is a six seed.
A prize of $1 million hangs in the balance.
2. Joey Logano breaks Richard Petty record
In one category, Joey Logano is now The King.
He broke Richard Petty’s record for youngest driver to reach 600 career Cup Series starts. Logano is 35 years, one month and 26 days old. Petty’s high mark was 35 years, seven months and 23 days. It stood for 52 years.
Others who cracked the list before the age of 40: Kyle Busch (36 years, four months), Jeff Gordon (38 years, 11 months) and Kurt Busch (39 years).
Logano placed 14th Sunday.
Dover is a notable place for him. In May 2008, he debuted on the national stage, taking sixth in a Nationwide Series race at the Monster Mile.
His first Cup start came at New Hampshire that September.
Logano still has a long way to go to reach Petty’s record of 1,184 career starts. Petty is also the only driver to win his 600th start.
3. NASCAR schedule: Next up, Cup Series is Brickyard-bound
Prepare to hear the word “historic” over and over again in the coming week, as NASCAR visits Indy for the 32nd Brickyard 400 at, yes, historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Well, not exactly the 32nd, considering those three recent years when they raced on the Indy road course.
The weekend begins with the Truck Series, which returns after a three-week break in the schedule. The trucks race Friday night at Lucas Oil Raceway, several miles west of Indy.
Saturday, all the focus moves to Gasoline Alley, the Yard of Bricks and the “Racing Capital of the World,” as the Xfinity Series presents the Pennzoil 250.
The Brickyard 400, Race 22 of the 2025 Cup Series season, caps the weekend Sunday and completes TNT’s five-week run of broadcasts. The green flag will fly at 2 p.m.
— Ken Willis contributed to this story
