Hendrick Motorsports had a play day Sunday at Dover International Speedway.
It was nice of the team to invite other Cup teams to join them.
That gave the Hendrick cars others to pass on a day car owner Rick Hendrick’s team dominated. His cars finished 1-2-3-4 for the first time in a Cup race in team history.
Alex Bowman took the lead from teammate Kyle Larson on pit road at Lap 304 with a 12.1-second pit stop — the fastest four-tire stop this season — and led the final 97 laps to earn his second victory of the season. Bowman and Martin Truex Jr. are the only drivers to win more than one Cup race this season.
Bowman praised the pit crew after the race on the team’s radio.
Hendrick praised Bowman and said after the race that talks on a multi-year deal with Bowman are underway. Hendrick called the deal a formality. Bowman’s contract expires after this season.
Larson, who led a race-high 263 laps and won both stages, finished second. It marked the 16th time in his Cup career he has led at least 100 laps in a race. Larson has won three of those races.
“I just felt like all of us HMS guys were pretty equal, so I felt like whoever got out to the lead was going to be hard to beat,” Larson said. “(Bowman’s) team just did a really good job on that pit stop and gained control of the race.”
Reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott finished third after starting at the rear because his car failed inspection twice before the event. William Byron completed the 1-2-3-4 sweep for Hendrick by placing fourth. It is Byron’s 11th consecutive top-10 finish.
“Great day for the organization,” Hendrick told FS1. “This is a sign of the guys working together and bringing good stuff to the track.”
Hendrick Motorsports drivers led 382 of the 400 laps Sunday.
The victory gives Hendrick Motorsports 267 Cup wins, one short of Petty Enterprises for the all-time record. Hendrick Motorsports will have a chance to tie the mark next weekend in the inaugural Cup race at Circuit of the Americas.
The win is the 21st for Hendrick Motorsports at Dover. The team only has more wins at Martinsville (25).
Joey Logano was best of the rest Sunday, finishing fifth.
Josh Berry finished 30th in his Cup debut. He subbed for Justin Haley, who was out because of COVID-19 protocols.
STAGE 1 WINNER: Kyle Larson
STAGE 2 WINNER: Kyle Larson
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Tyler Reddick‘s eighth-place finish is his fifth top 10 in the last seven races. … Daniel Suarez‘s ninth-place finish is his second top 10 of the year. … Cole Custer‘s 10th-place finish tied for his best result of the year. … Bubba Wallace finished 11th for his first top-15 finish of the season.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Kyle Busch‘s car was underpowered in the first stage and he fell off the lead lap. He was eight laps off the lead before the halfway mark. Busch placed 27th, finishing seven laps behind the leaders. … Aric Almirola‘s rough season continued when he crashed after a suspected parts failure. He finished last in the 37-car field. It marks the seventh time in 13 races this season he’s finished 29th or worse.
NOTABLE: Alex Bowman’s win was the 799th Cup victory for Chevrolet.
NEXT: The series will make its first trip to Circuit of the Americas for the May 23 race (2:30 p.m. ET on FS1).
