Using the outside lane on the final overtime restart, Denny Hamlin sent his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota past race leader Austin Hill in turn two and set sail, claiming his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway at the checkered flag.
“We really did a good job of maintaining what we had and man, it was going to be cool to see that race play out, but still it was a great win,” said Hamlin, who only led 14 laps. “These cars just drive so different than the Next Gen does. Really, I just maintained my pace and kept them within shouting distance and then pounced when I really needed to.”
It was also Hamlin’s 18th career Xfinity Series win.
The battle for second raged on behind him during the final lap, as John Hunter Nemechek showed a wheel and challenged Hill for the runner-up position in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200.
However, Hill fought off the No. 20’s advances, holding on to score a second-place finish in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was fourth, while JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry completed the top five.
Riley Herbst, Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Kyle Busch and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top 10.
Berry and Creed both clinched playoff positions via points.
Polesitter Nemechek swept both stages and led 99 total laps. The race had seven cautions and 15 lead changes.
The major incident of the race occurred on lap 142, when Sam Mayer tapped the rear bumper of Parker Kligerman and sent the No. 48 Chevrolet spinning. The two were battling for 12th.