BRISTOL, Tenn. -- After a 500-lap battle of attrition, Denny Hamlin held off Martin Truex Jr. to win the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, earning his first victory of the 2024 season and his second-straight at Bristol. Hamlin came out on top in a race defined by tire management, managing his pace effectively enough to last until the end and hold off Truex in heavy lapped traffic.
After a number of cautions throughout the day -- most of which came at the end of the tires' life cycle due to extreme wear -- Hamlin and Truex settled in at the front of the field over the final green flag run, maintaining Joe Gibbs Racing's control over the race despite teammates Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell falling by the wayside. Hamlin's win is the second in a row for Joe Gibbs Racing and for Toyota, following up on Bell's victory last weekend at Phoenix.
On a day where tire wear created uncomfortable situations for many drivers in the field, Hamlin -- who grew up racing on abrasive short tracks throughout Southern Virginia -- found himself right in his comfort zone on his way to his 52nd career victory.
"That's what I grew up doing, here on the short tracks of the whole Mid-Atlantic. South Boston, Martinsville, all of those tracks -- It's just what I grew up doing," Hamlin told Fox Sports. "Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances. But obviously the veteran in Martin, he knew how to do it as well.
"We just had a great car, great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day, I can't say enough about them. ... Man, it feels so good to win at Bristol."
The variables in play turned Sunday's race at Bristol into a historic one. The lead changed hands a total of 54 times, setting a new NASCAR record for the most lead changes in any short track race in history. The 54 lead changes broke the track record of 40 set in spring 1991, and a mark of 16 different leaders tied the track record from the spring of 1989.
Sunday's race also marked the first time in 20 years that only five cars or less finished on the lead lap. Prior to Sunday, the last Cup Series race to feature that few cars on the lead lap came in June 2004, when Mark Martin won a race at Dover that also saw just five cars finish on the lead lap.
Prior to the green flag Sunday, there was a feeling that tire wear and tire management could play a factor in determining who would run up front and who would have the sustained speed to last over the course of a run. What no one predicted, however, was exactly how much tire wear there would be and how drastically it would alter the course of the day's 500 laps.
From the first run onward, each green flag run featured extreme tire wear and falloff, resulting in drivers having to back off dramatically in order to keep from burning the set of tires they had off and forcing them to pit for fresh tires at every possible opportunity. Although both the left and right side tire compounds were the same ones used in last September's Bristol Night Race, the application of a resin compound as opposed to PJ1 traction compound in the lower lane changed the way the tires reacted, creating much more extreme wear than Goodyear had anticipated as the track did not take rubber.
The importance of fresh tires was illustrated writ large on the first restart of the day, as it took just one lap for Tyler Reddick to get swallowed up and spun in front of traffic after staying out on old tires to take the lead.
"We tested here last year with the intent to come up with a tire package that generated more tire wear. That was the request from NASCAR and the teams. And we feel like we had a very successful test, we feel like we had a very successful race in the fall of last year," Goodyear's Greg Stucker told reporters mid-race. "... Now, we're trying to understand what's different, why the racetrack is behaving differently this weekend than what it did a year ago. It's the same package, it's the same tire combination. Obviously the difference is resin was placed on the lower groove instead of the PJ1. Yet I still think the racetrack should be taking rubber as it did last fall. It took rubber immediately during that race."
A myriad of drivers -- including Hamlin himself -- had tires wear down to the chords, with some tires even going down and sending drivers either spinning or toward the wall. That greatly influenced the pace of the race, as drivers progressively adapted and found themselves backing their pace down as runs went on in order to save their tires.
That led to some striking visuals, as several runs saw multiple cars close together and stacked on top of one another at the front of the field as the savviest of the frontrunners were content to let other drivers take the lead and be the "rabbit" setting the pace for everyone else. Hamlin ended up leading the most laps with 163, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs (137) and Martin Truex Jr. (54) the only other drivers to lead more than 50 laps on the day.
As the field was forced to adapt, NASCAR and Goodyear were also put in a position where they needed to improvise. After the first half the race saw the field be on pace to burn through their 11 allotted sets of sticker tires, Goodyear worked to provide the entire field with an additional set of fresh tires to alleviate such concerns. That came in handy, as nine cautions on the day created just as many opportunities to come to pit road and put on fresh tires.
Lapped traffic was also a factor on the day, particularly during the final green flag run as a cycle of green flag pit stops developed and drivers on fresh tires had an extreme advantage in speed over cars on worn tires. After one close call navigating lapped traffic occurred when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Cindric spun out right in front of Hamlin and Gibbs, the race for the win ultimately unfolded as Hamlin and Truex had to find the most efficient route through heavy lapped traffic.
Overall, the eventful and at times chaotic nature of Sunday's race made for a marked departure from the at-times maligned nature of Cup racing on short tracks since the Next Gen car proved to be poorly optimized for smaller ovals. The nature of the race was well received by the drivers in particular, as several referenced it hearkening back to their formative days racing on short tracks on their way up to NASCAR's highest level.
"You go to any of these local short tracks, that's how you have to race. Have take care of your stuff," Brad Keselowski told Fox Sports. "It's refreshing. It's different. I like that, that it takes something different every week. That's what makes Cup so hard. You go in every week, some weeks you drive 'em till you burn 'em down, this week you got to take care of 'em. It was fun."
"That was something I excelled at, and I feel like I was able to apply that today," Alex Bowman said, referencing his experience racing in ARCA over a decade ago. "In the Cup Series, we run hard every single lap all race these days. Kind of fun to go back to that. Maybe too far back to that. But glad we ended up on the right end of it."
The NASCAR Cup Series goes from short track racing to its first road course race of the season, the Echopark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, next Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Fox.
The crowd's really going to love this one, aren't they? Denny Hamlin wins the Food City 500 to pick up his second-straight win at Bristol, and his first win of the 2024 season!
1 - #11 - Denny Hamlin
2 - #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
3 - #6 - Brad Keselowski
4 - #48 - Alex Bowman
5 - #5 - Kyle Larson
6 - #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
7 - #17 - Chris Buescher
8 - #9 - Chase Elliott
9 - #54 - Ty Gibbs
10 - #20 - Christopher Bell
Martin Truex Jr. couldn't get around Justin Haley as well as he needed to. That gives Hamlin quite the comfortable advantage. White flag this time by!
Coming up on five laps to go. Lapped traffic doesn't look like it'll be as much of a factor now. It's a match race between Hamlin and Truex.
Truex almost got an opening to Hamlin's inside, but Hamlin got some clear racetrack while Truex couldn't get the nose of his car quite pointed through Turns 3 and 4. Lapped traffic is starting to lighten up as the two leaders now lap up into the Top 10. They just put a lap on seventh place Chris Buescher.
Hamlin now back to Truex's outside, and he's clear of traffic up top UNTIL he comes up on Bubba Wallace! Wallace -- who knows who writes his check -- goes to the top of the racetrack and gives Hamlin a clear route through. Hamlin now leads once again, but there's still a lot of traffic in front of these two.
Coming up on 10 laps to go!
20 laps to go. There is a gaggle of cars that Hamlin and Truex have yet to catch. They continue to shadow each other with Hamlin out front looking for the most efficient route through the cars in front of him.
Truex gets the chance he needs! Hamlin slides up in Turns 3 and 4 and opens up the bottom for the 19, and now Truex is in the top spot!
Coming up on 25 laps to go. As it stands, this race is going to come down to how Hamlin and Truex navigate the heavy lapped traffic in front of them. Hamlin is able to hold onto it right now.
Those two are out front by a prohibitive margin over Brad Keselowski in third. The 6 car is six seconds back of the battle for the lead.
Denny Hamlin has a massive gaggle of lapped traffic to try and work through. That's not what he needs to protect his 1.1 second lead, as Martin Truex Jr. is able to completely erase that gap. Hamlin and Truex now nose-to-tail for the top spot.
Pit stops seem to have cycled through. Denny Hamlin now leads Martin Truex Jr., Josh Berry, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson. We'll see if everyone is able to make it to the end of the race on the set of tires they've got on without issue.
Denny Hamlin is on pit road, and now here comes Martin Truex Jr.! That's going to give the lead to Brad Keselowski as Carson Hocevar now has a tire problem!
Keselowski now peels off to pit road. Bear in mind that these are scheduled stops. Alex Bowman is currently the race leader, but now he peels off to make his stop.
A flurry of activity to pit road with now less than 50 laps to go.
Christopher Bell to pit road with a flat right front! That happens as his teammates Hamlin and Truex race each other for the lead in lapped traffic, which includes cars that came to pit road with issues and now have fresher tires.
There's a massive speed discrepancy between new tires and old tires, which you're seeing play out as Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry easily dice their way through traffic.
Chris Buescher now to pit road. Ty Gibbs now off the pace! Flat right rear!
Ryan Blaney drops way, way off the pace. Looks like the right front is down. He comes to pit road just as Kyle Larson leaves his pit box. Not sure what Larson's issue was.
Christopher Bell just dropped back to conserve his tires, and just as that happened, you're starting to see some drivers -- like Todd Gilliland and Ryan Blaney -- fall off dramatically. Denny Hamlin capitalized on Gilliland, using him as a pick to take the lead from Ty Gibbs. Gibbs is now third as Martin Truex Jr. takes second.
Unscheduled stop for Josh Berry. Tough break for the outside polesitter.
And now Ty Gibbs has been in the wall, and he's dropped off the pace on what's turned into the longest green flag run today!
If you read our race previews on CBS Sports, you knew in advance that Ty Gibbs was my pick to win today. He's trying to join drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Elliott Sadler and Kurt Busch among drivers to get their first career win at Bristol.
Coming up on 75 laps to go.
Another lead change between the Gibbs cars. Ty Gibbs goes back to the front, and he takes Christopher Bell with him past Hamlin on the inside.
Way back in 1992 -- the year that Bristol is honoring this weekend -- Joe Gibbs Racing earned their first top 10 in team history when Dale Jarrett challenged Alan Kulwicki for the win before finishing second. Now, JGR is in position to potentially earn the first 1-2-3-4 finish in team history.
Less than 100 laps to go now.
The bump and run in midpack! Ross Chastain uses the chrome horn and moves Ryan Blaney out of his way and back into traffic. That battle was happening just outside the Top 10, and frankly, Blaney was lucky to hang onto it.
Back to racing on Lap 380. Coming up on 100 laps to go, and there's a new leader momentarily as Christopher Bell drives to the outside of Denny Hamlin. He leads at the start/finish line, but Hamlin holds him off as Ty Gibbs now takes second from Bell.
Denny Hamlin holds the lead off pit road, but there's a new second place driver with Christopher Bell taking that spot from Ty Gibbs. Brad Keselowski was the only other driver in the Top 10 to gain a spot, taking sixth from Ryan Blaney.
Pit road penalty for Kyle Larson. Equipment interference.
SPIN, TURN 4! Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Cindric both go for a spin as the leaders were putting them a lap down. Caution is out, and that was a close call for the frontrunners.
Daniel Hemric is in the wall off Turn 4. The leaders drive by him without issue, and Hemric reports something is broken on his car.
A few laps later, Noah Gragson gets into the Turn 4 wall with a right front tire flat. As that goes on, Denny Hamlin has taken the lead from Ty Gibbs.
Less than 150 laps now remaining. We've settled into a long run, and it seems like the tire wear may be stabilizing as a cloud cover overtakes the track and the track gets cooler. We'll see if that lasts as we get deeper into this long run.
