NASCAR All-Star Race takeaways: Denny Hamlin wins, and will Dover be a one-off?

DOVER, Del. — The format may have been head-scratching, and a series of wrecks sidelined several likely contenders, but Denny Hamlin demonstrated once again why he is among NASCAR’s very best by winning the All-Star Race on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway.After starting the race on the pole, Hamlin largely dominated the opening segment until Bubba Wallace passed him for the lead following a late restart. Then, in a second segment that forced him to drop to the back due to the All-Star Race’s mandated invert that moves the best early performers to the back, Hamlin deftly picked his way forward while avoiding the calamity that befell other contenders to finish third, positioning him first in the final 200-lap segment that pays $1 million to the winner.Advertisement