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Denny Hamlin triumphed at the Sport Clips VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway, putting an end to his six-year winless streak in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Hamlin's remarkable performance on the track unfolded with a series of well-executed restarts, eventually leading him to claim his 18th Xfinity Series win.
Contrary to expectations, he was not the dominant force in the race, leading only 14 of the 148 laps. It wasn't until the final 30 laps that he surged ahead to secure the lead.
Throughout the day, it was his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, who had initially taken the pole position, He led an impressive 99 laps but ultimately finished in third place, behind Denny Hamlin and Austin Hill.
The Sport Clips VFW 200 delivered an intense battle among the top three finishers over the course of 148 laps. Hill, who left Darlington as the regular-season points leader, narrowly missed out on victory. This was due to a tough decision to choose the inside lane on the final restart, which occurred with just two laps remaining.
Cole Custer clinched fourth place in his No. 00 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, closely following the leading trio. Despite dealing with a challenging car throughout the race, Josh Berry secured an impressive fifth-place finish in the No. 8 car.
Berry's fifth-place finish also means he secured a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series postseason, which is set to kick off in two weeks at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Riley Herbst made significant progress in the playoff standings, finishing in sixth place and leaving Darlington just one point above the cutoff line. This was due to Parker Kligerman's late-race issues involving Sam Mayer, resulting in a 24th-place finish for Kligerman.
Justin Allgaier finished seventh, while Sheldon Creed, Kyle Busch, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top 10 in the Sport Clips VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway.
One of the early contenders, Kyle Larson, saw his hopes dashed as he finished in 38th place. Larson's Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro experienced an engine issue, forcing him into the garage for the majority of the final stage.
Denny Hamlin clears post-race inspection at Darlington
Following the race, the post-race technical inspection was completed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage. Denny Hamlin, driving the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for JGR, was officially declared the race winner after passing all inspection criteria.
No major issues were discovered, ensuring that Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, and Josh Berry retained their positions in the top five.
With these results, all race outcomes and point standings distributed by NASCAR have been officially validated. It marked a memorable day for Denny Hamlin and his victorious return to the Xfinity Series.
As the Xfinity Series heads into its regular-season finale at Kansas Speedway, Austin Hill holds a comfortable 23-point lead over second-place John Hunter Nemechek. Justin Allgaier trails Hill by 33 points in third place, while Cole Custer and Sam Mayer complete the top-five in the points standings.
