Denny Hamlin earned his 56th career Cup win while Brandon Jones earned his first Xfinity win in three years at Darlington this weekend. The history of the sport was once again honored through some unique paint schemes while stars of the sport took aim at the tradition. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney can't seem to catch a break and Kyle Larson couldn't stop his wounded car from being part of the final outcome.
Here's a look at the biggest winners and losers from Darlington:
WINNER: Denny Hamlin goes back-to-back, thanks to his pit crew
Back-to-back: Denny Hamlin pulls away in OT to capture Darlington win
Getty Images
This is a race Kyle Larson is going to want to forget. The day started well, winning 'Best in Show' for his throwback scheme. However, the Kellogg's-inspired car did not look that good for long. Larson spun out on his own within the first five laps of the race, destroying the front of the car. He returned to the race over 160 laps down, only to be involved in another incident in the same spot with less than five laps to go in the race. He slowed down abruptly upon seeing Tyler Reddick get into the wall, but in trying to avoid being part of a race-altering incident, he instead caused it. Bubba Wallace could not react in time, spinning Larson out in a caution that ultimately cost Ryan Blaney the race win.
WINNER: Byron's shocking domination
William Byron unable to come up with Darlington win: 'Still a lot of positives'
James Gilbert / Getty Images
2025 has been a struggle for Gibbs, scoring very few points up until the last two weeks, trapped at the very bottom of the standings. He started to turn things around at Martinsville, scoring some stage points and finishing 13th. Further improvements were made at Darlington, finishing ninth. He's now up to 26th in points, which is far away from where he should be, but still much better than where he was.
LOSER: No repeat win for Keselowski
Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
