Denny Hamlin has come out on top in one of the best finishes of the 2026 season, beating his two teammates to the line at Nashville on Monday.

Hamlin, who started on pole had a pass-through penalty after massively jumping the start, and dropped to 38th (last) at the start of the race.

The attrition theme became clear early, as Connor Zilisch and Ross Chastain (Shane van Gisbergen’s teammates) both had brake issues and crashed out early.

Veteran driver AJ Allmendinger won Stage 1 after Van Gisbergen led a handful of laps, before the driver of the #16 also had a brake rotor explode and end his night prematurely.

The race then had a flurry of cautions, taking out multiple competitive drivers including Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman and more.

With multiple different strategies unfolding, it looked to be Christopher Bell’s race as he chased down Zane Smith late, before another driver had a brake issue and went into the wall.

The race went back to green with four laps to go, and the three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin, Bell and Chase Briscoe battled it out for the win.

The teammates were three-wide coming to the white flag with one lap remaining, before Hamlin was able to pull ahead and take the victory in a thrilling battle.

But it wasn’t all good news for Hamlin, as the night proved costly for 23XI Racing when Tyler Reddick was turned at the finish line and slammed into the outside wall on the front straight.

“Oh there was a big crash at the line”, Hamlin said in a post race interview.

“That looks expensive.”

Hamlin, and his 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan have some important repairs to make with Reddick and Wallace sustaining heavy damage throughout the night.

Van Gisbergen was beaming after the race, achieving his first-ever top-five finish at an oval track, and staying in contention with the leaders all night.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Michigan next week for the FireKeepers Casino 400.