Denny Hamlin has had a great 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season as he has five race victories. In Saturday’s Drydene 311 at Dover International Speedway, Hamlin scored the Stage 1 win with ease as he passed Austin Dillon for the lead with 12 laps left in the Stage.
This marks Hamlin’s sixth Stage Win of 2020, which ties him with Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott for the Series lead.
Dillon held on to finish second on old tires, while Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. capped off the top-five in Stage 1.
Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Chris Buescher and Aric Almirola made up the remainder of the top-10 in Stage 1.
The race has been fairly clean through Stage 1, but Kurt Busch’s day came to an end on lap six when he and Erik Jones made contact. This sent Busch into the inside wall hard.
Jones received a lot of rear-end damage as Alex Bowman smacked into the back of his No. 20 car during the incident.
Last week’s winner, Chase Elliott started from the pole and led early on, but on a restart following the competition caution at lap 25, Elliott was side-swiped by Clint Bowyer. Elliott received a little damage on his left front and has struggled to make any advancement through the field since.
Stage and Playoff Points Awarded in Stage 1:
| Finish | Driver | Stage Points | Playoff Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 10 | 1 |
| 2 | Austin Dillon | 9 | 0 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | Clint Bowyer | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | Martin Truex Jr. | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | Jimmie Johnson | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | Chris Buescher | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | 1 | 0 |
