The 'Monster Mile' didn't eat that many cars this weekend, but it was the usual suspects battling for the race win. Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports were the teams to beat, with Denny Hamlin ultimately earning an impressive victory in a mad dash to the finish.
Mother Nature also interfered quite a bit, washing out both practice and qualifying for the Cup race. The Xfinity race ended up being shortened by rain, and more showers resulted in an hour-long delay with less than 15 laps to go in the Cup race. However, NASCAR waited out the weather and delivered a thrilling finish where teammates battled it out for the checkered flag.
Here's a look at the biggest winners and losers from Dover:
WINNER: A defiant Denny Hamlin on the track and off
Hamlin entered the weekend at Dover with a cloud above him as the co-owner of 23XI Racing. The team, along with Front Row Motorsports, had recently lost their charters as the ongoing legal battle with NASCAR rolls on. But Hamlin was defiant in his comments to the media, and promised that the lawsuit won't be a distraction from his job as a driver at Joe Gibbs Racing. On Sunday, he proved it, driving from 13th to 1st to earn his series-leading fourth win of the 2025 season.
LOSER: Christopher Bell can't stop spinning out
Christopher Bell had one of, if not the fastest car at Dover this weekend. He could cut through the pack with ease, he earned 19 of a possible 20 stage points, but he also couldn't stop spinning out. At the start of the final stage, he spun from the lead on the opening lap of the restart, and somehow the entire field avoided him. He made his way back forward, catching a well-timed yellow to put himself back in contention for the race win. And once he got alongside teammate Hamlin for the lead, neither driver was going to lift. That proved consequential for Bell, who spun out once again. While cars crashed all around him, Bell's No. 20 remained undamaged, but there was no time left to rebound this time. He finished a disappointing 18th.
WINNER: NASCAR Cup drivers named 'Ty'
Well, we now know the names of the two drivers advancing into the finals for NASCAR's $1 million in-season bracket challenge, and they're both named Ty! Ty Gibbs, driving the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, defeated Tyler Reddick in his battle. But the real story is Ty Dillon, the ultimate underdog who entered this competition as the bottom seed, and yet, he has bested drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, RFK Racing, and now John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club. This competition has been one of the best things that has ever happened to the younger Dillon brother, who now has just one driver between himself and the big prize at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
LOSER: Trackhouse gets crushed by Miles the Monster
Dover was not a good race for Trackhouse Racing, which just won back-to-back races, thanks to Shane van Gisbergen. At the very start of the race, SVG had to pit with a right-front tire issue. He fell almost five laps down in the process, which was a hole that he was never able to get out of. Daniel Suarez only made the highlights when he was fighting the leaders to stay on the lead lap, but he ended up being the highest-finishing Trackhouse driver in 26th. But what about Ross Chastain? He ran between 10th and 15th for most of the race, but that's a far cry from his usual pace at Dover. And with 17 laps to go, the car snapped around on him, and he crashed out of the event. SVG ended up finishing 30th, while Chastain was relegated to 33rd.
WINNER: Chase Briscoe's late charge almost ends in victory
When crew chief James Small called Chase Briscoe to pit road with just a handful of laps to go at Dover, it was a bold move that risked a solid top-ten day. With fresh right-side tires, Briscoe restarted tenth for the final eight laps of racing. He then made all the right moves, rocketed forward and got all the way to the race leader. He slammed doors with Hamlin at the white flag in the battle for the win, but he didn't go so far as to wreck himself or his teammate. In the end, JGR got a 1-2 with one of Briscoe's most impressive drives of the 2025 season.
LOSER: Noah Gragson because he just didn't want to wreck
During the one-hour rain delay before NASCAR could finish the Cup race at Dover, Noah Gragson told TNT Sports that he just didn't want to wreck in the closing laps. He was running in a decent position, sitting 14th in the running order. And after the race returned to yellow-flag conditions, he stayed out, putting himself inside the top ten. However, it did not last as he did the one thing he didn't want to do -- wreck. When Bell went spinning, Gragson did as well after a tap from behind. He slammed the inside wall, resulting in a DNF that left him with a 32nd-place finish.
WINNER: Bubba Wallace builds a margin over cut-line
Bubba Wallace entered Dover on the hot seat, sitting on the bubble with just a couple of points between himself and Ryan Preece in the battle to make the playoffs. Wallace was among those who pitted for fresh tires near the end of the race at Dover, and like Briscoe, he had an impressive restart that vaulted him deep inside the top ten. He ultimately finished seventh, increasing his buffer to 16 points. It may not seem like much, but every point matters with just five races left until the regular season ends.
LOSER: William Byron loses the points lead
Since winning the Daytona 500, William Byron's season has been an odd one. The No. 24 has been fast, leading hundreds of laps, and yet, he hasn't returned to Victory Lane. And in recent weeks, Byron has been bleeding points to his rivals. He has five finished of 27th or worse in the last seven races, costing him the regular season points lead. Before this bad stretch, he had nearly a 50-point buffer to play with. Hendrick Motorsports looked strong across the board at Dover, and Byron could have finished inside the top five, but he was swept up in a late-race wreck at the Monster Mile.
