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The victory was Hamlin's 54th, tying him with
Lee Petty for 12th all-time.
"Just a great team," Hamlin said when asked how he won. "All the
guys on the wall right here, they're the ones who make it
happen. Thank you to them, (crew chief) Chris Gabehart, the
whole team for just giving me great cars."
Larson got within two-tenths of a second of Hamlin but said he
could not muster the run to pass him.
"(Nothing I could do) in the last 10 (laps)," said Larson, who
notched his fifth top-five finish. "I could pace it and get
closer to him at the end of the runs, but it's so easy to
air-block ... as the leader at a place like this to shut off the
air on the guys behind you."
Completing the top-five finishers were Martin Truex Jr., Kyle
Busch and Chase Elliott.
After claiming his second career Dover pole on Saturday, Busch
raced out and led the first 33 laps around the one-mile layout
in the 120-lap Stage 1 until Ryan Blaney grabbed the point in
his No. 12 Ford.
On Lap 79, Byron positioned his No. 24 Chevrolet past the
defending series champion, and Truex took the lead as the 72-lap
green-flag run came to an end after Brad Keselowski looped his
No. 6 Ford following a right-rear tire problem.
Truex, who started 15th, earned the full bonus points by taking
his fifth career stage win at the Monster Mile under caution.
Byron and Tyler Reddick followed him to the line.
The event's defending winner who won last May when the race was
postponed to Monday, Truex had little trouble putting separation
between himself and Byron, leading by 2.61 seconds on Lap 180
before green-flag pit stops began.
But Byron's car was dropped from the jack without one of the
tires bolted on, and Larson's stop was four seconds faster than
Truex's.
That put Larson's No. 5 ahead of Truex's No. 19 Toyota, but
Corey LaJoie chose not to pit and led 33 circuits until Larson
passed him on Lap 219.
Larson earned the Stage 2 win over Alex Bowman, but
hard-charging Hamlin finished third and won the ensuing race off
pit road to lead for the first time.
Bubba Wallace, Byron and Christopher Bell were involved in the
day's worst wreck on Lap 329 after Zane Smith turned Wallace's
No. 23 Toyota off Turn 2.
--Field Level Media
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