Despite having older tyres, Hamlin survived two green-white-chequered finishes in an extended 407-lap race. He led 67 laps in total.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott largely dominated the race – leading 238 laps – until a slow pit stop in Stage 3 cost him top spot, leaving Hamlin and Christopher Bell to battle.

Bell in the #20 Toyota Camry had already fought back from an earlier spin. A well-timed caution shot him back into contention.

The race was red-flagged for rain with 14 laps to go and resumed after an hour-long delay.

Before the final round of pit stops, Hamlin led Bell, Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman.

Tyler Reddick, who was ninth, elected to pit for tyres. He was the first of that group, which included Briscoe. Reddick restarted ninth with Briscoe in 10th.

Racing resumed with eight laps to go, at which point Briscoe slingshotted his way to third. Hamlin and Bell raced side-by-side until the #20 spun coming out of Turn 4.

William Byron and Noah Gragson were victims of the melee, both hitting the inside wall.

Hamlin led Larson to the green for the first attempt at an overtime finish. The #11 was pushed by the #19 and Briscoe shot to second.

Moments later, the yellow flew again – this time for #38 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Zane Smith and the other Mustang driven by Ryan Preece for RFK Racing in the #60 car.

Hamlin and Brisco lined up side-by-side for what would prove to be the final restart. Briscoe looked like he might clear Hamlin but couldn’t complete the pass.

Hamlin covered Briscoe and took the air off his nose, offering the #19 no chance at another attack despite having fresher tyres.

All told, it was Hamlin in the #11 that took victory by 0.310s over the #19 of Briscoe. Third and fourth went to Bowman and Larson respectively while Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five for Joe Gibbs Racing in the #54 Toyota Camry.

“Things were going pretty well there before the rain,” said Hamlin.

“Obviously had to endure a few restarts there. It was tough. Those guys gave me a run for it. Winning here in Dover is super special to me.

“This is a place I’ve not been very good at the first half of my career. Back-to-back here over the last few years is amazing.

“I studied some of the greats here. I was very fortunate to have Martin Truex as a teammate, Jimmie Johnson watching him win 10 times here. You learn from the greats here.

“You change your game to match it and you have success like this.”

Shane van Gisbergen in the #88 finished seven laps down in 30th on what was a torrid day for Trackhouse Racing.

Ross Chastain in the #1 Chevrolet Camaro crashed and was classified 33rd while Daniel Suarez was largely anonymous in the #99 on his way to 26th, three laps down.

The NASCAR Cup Series continues in a week on July 28 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400.

Results: NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive 400, Dover Motor Speedway

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