Ty Dillon – this is the name dominating NASCAR’s headlines at present. The ‘Cinderella’ character of the In-Season Tournament has had a rollercoaster ride through the past four races. From toppling 56-time Cup race winner Denny Hamlin to masterfully moving Alex Bowman out of the way in Sonoma, Dillon’s actions have been priceless. As he proceeds to the final round, however, a Cup Series rival is particularly rooting against him.
Denny Hamlin defended his crown at Dover Motor Speedway, winning a chaotic race. Although he could pat himself on the back for overcoming a 56-minute weather delay and twin overtime restarts successfully, Hamlin was not satisfied.
Denny Hamlin takes a reverse shot
Well, Ty Dillon took the first shot first, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Kaulig Racing driver was paired up with Denny Hamlin in the first round of the Bracket Challenge. In a 22-car crash that unfolded on lap 70, most of the fan-favorite racers, including Hamlin, were wiped out. Dillon, on the other hand, came out of it with a fascinating 8th-place finish. He continued this streak, wiping out Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman in the following two rounds. Then, Dover came around. Dillon had to put up a solid fight against John Hunter Nemechek until the very last lap. Both of them tackled the weather challenges, restarts, and late-race strategies, but Dillon prevailed.
On the other hand, Ty Gibbs beat Tyler Reddick by clinching a 5th-place finish. Now, the final round awaits at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the fight between Gibbs and Dillon. And Denny Hamlin is rooting for only one Ty: “I’m all Ty now…I wasn’t this week, but it looks like he knocked out Tyler. So, let’s go with Ty Gibbs.” At the same time, however, Hamlin could not help but nurse his wounds from the Atlanta crash, which scuttled his million-dollar dream. He took a jab at Ty Dillon: “He made it to the Finals…You know what that tells me, though? Had I passed in Atlanta, how easy was my trip to the Finals.”
Well, Ty Dillon’s actions during the Dover Cup Series race also did not impress Denny Hamlin. During the green-flag pit stops around lap 205, Dillon was “cutting him off” and “running him in the s—,” according to Hamlin’s radio. At that time, Dillon was desperately trying to race Nemechek and remain on the lead lap. But that was as the Lucky Dog, so Hamlin scoffed at Dillon’s overall result: “Where did he finish? 20!” Hamlin continued that Indianapolis may be difficult, although Dillon finished 19th and Ty Gibbs finished 23rd last year. “Listen, I’m rooting for him personally (it’s a good story), yeah, especially that it’s the worst seed. But I think in Indy, he’s gonna need some help. He’ll need some help, it’s just an unorthodox, that kind of track. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. But I’m rooting for Ty Gibbs.”
Denny Hamlin is clearly not so cheerful about Ty Dillon’s progress. Part of his mood lies in the tough race he finished on Sunday.
Looking back at a wild challenge
Yes, Denny Hamlin was the defending winner of Dover. However, it was hardly a cakewalk for him during the 2025 race. For most of the day, it looked like Chase Elliott would claim his second win of the season, leading a race-best 238 of the 407 laps. Hamlin could only beat him during a cycle of pit stops, when he snatched the lead over his teammate, Christopher Bell. A 56-minute red flag due to weather shuffled race strategies, and Hamlin’s rivals left no stone unturned. Chase Briscoe stood out especially, as he was on even newer tires. He pushed Hamlin on that final two-lap sprint to the checkered flag.
Denny Hamlin ran his extremely ambitious teammate door-to-door on the white flag lap, with their cars even making slight contact. Eventually, Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota Camry was able to pull around and clear Chase Briscoe’s No. 19, racing off to a .310-second victory. Nevertheless, Hamlin was exhausted by the end: “Things were going pretty well there before the rain, and then obviously had to endure a few restarts there. It was tough, those guys gave me a run for it, no doubt about it.” He became only the 13th driver in track history to win consecutive races. Hamlin said: “This is a place I had not been very good at the first half of my career, and then to have back-to-back (wins) here the last couple years is amazing.”
Denny Hamlin’s day was victorious, although his mind lingered on the missed million-dollar challenge. Let us see if his preferred Ty gets through the final round.
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