NASCAR Barometer: Hamlin Heads Toyota Domination at Martinsville

Sunday's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway was all about Denny Hamlin and Toyota. After watching teammate Christopher Bell win three times to start the 2025 season, Hamlin made sure he put his name on the winner's list at one of his best tracks. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran started the afternoon fifth, put his car into the lead just after 100 laps into the race, and proceeded to command the race from there. Hamlin's pace was so great that he led 274 of the last 275 laps despite facing six more restarts before the finish. In the end, Hamlin eased ahead for a comfortable win of more than four seconds over teammate Bell, leading home a Toyota 1-2-3 finish with 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace securing the third spot. With seven races now in the books this season, Hamlin's win gave Toyota their fourth in an ominous start to the year. Both Chevrolet and Ford, while they have victories, are certainly on the backfoot as Toyota pulls ahead.

The season rolls on next week at Darlington Raceway, though. It will be another chance for the garage to catch Toyota, and Ford will be most hopeful. The manufacturer won both races at the track last season with Brad Keselowski and Chase Briscoe scooping up the honors last season. In fact, Toyota has not won at the track since Hamlin made the turn into Victory Lane there in 2021.

UPGRADE

Denny Hamlin - Hamlin flexed his short-track muscle with a dominant performance Sunday at Martinsville to win his first race of the 22025 season. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver started fifth and worked his way into the race lead on lap 126. From there, he went on to win the second stage and only failed to lead one lap after that as he stretched his way to a commanding win. Sunday's win made Hamlin the fifth different winner this season and enables he and the team to dedicate an even greater amount of focus toward playoff preparations. Up first is a trip to Darlington, though. Like Martinsville, Hamlin has a history of success at that historic track. His four Darlington wins are the most among active drivers, but his last win there was nearly five years ago. Last season, Hamlin led a combined 22 laps in the two races at the track with finishes of fourth and seventh.

Christopher Bell - Bell continued his red-hot start to the 2025 season with a second-place finish Sunday at Martinsville. The finish was his fourth top-fie of the season and first since his win at Phoenix. He started the race on pole and led a total of 25 laps before his teammate pulled away for the win. Were it not for Hamlin's speed, Bell was in position to potentially win his fourth race of the season, but a loose condition kept Bell from significantly challenging the No. 11. It was still a banner day with Joe Gibbs Racing drivers finishing first and second. Fantasy players should expect Bell's chances to remain high at Darlington next week, too. From 11 starts, Bell's best finish there is third, which came last fall. He has two top-fives and three-top-10s in that span, and it seems likely that his early season momentum is going to keep rolling for the time being.

Bubba Wallace - Despite a few hiccups, Wallace refused to have his day derailed and rose to round out Toyota's dominant Martinsville afternoon with a third-place finish, his second third-place finish in a row. Just one week after lamenting coming up short at Miami, Wallace showed resilience with Sunday's run that included contact and several pitfalls that could have ruined his day. That effort, combined with his other finishes so far, put him inside the top 10 in the standings, which is an excellent start to the year. This team expects to make the playoffs and race for wins, and that is exactly what they are doing these past few weeks. Looking ahead, the coming race at Darlington could be a chance to extend that success another week. Wallace started on pole at the track last fall and was on a run of four consecutive top-10s before that race. He led 37 laps in the fall visit and finished 16th.

Joey Logano - Sunday's visit to Martinsville was an up and down day for Logano, but the team's persistence earned them their first top-10 finish of the season. The defending series champion started the race inside the top 10. The decision not to pit during the first two cautions of the race also enabled Logano to win the first stage. However, since he was the only car to take that strategy, he started at the back for the second stage and failed to score stage points in the second segment. Things got worse when, with 85 laps remaining, Chase Briscoe got loose and tapped the No. 22 into a spin, forcing Logano to fall back yet again. With his quick car, Logano mounted a final charge forward, clawing his way up to eighth for the finish. It wasn't pretty, but Logano got the job done. He now sits 10th in the standings, poised to continue climbing the rankings, starting this week at Darlington where he won in 2022.

Chase Elliott - While Sunday's race at Martinsville was dominated by Toyota, Elliott carried the flag for Chevrolet. The former series champion qualified on the front row, finished eighth in the first stage, came home second in the second stage, and went on to finish fourth behind the Toyota's in the race. The top-five finish was the second of the year for Elliott so far and the first on an oval. With the result, Elliott now holds sixth in the series standings and has a platform of finishes to build from as he seeks a 2025 win. Darlington would be a good place for him to check that box, too. While Elliott has never won at the track, he does have four top-fives and seven top-10s from 16 tries. Elliott finished 12th and 11th at the track last season despite starting 31st and 20th in those races. With a better qualifying outcome next week, Elliott could be in line for another top finish.

DOWNGRADE

Austin Cindric - Cindric's retirement from Sunday's race marked his worst finish of the season so far. The weekend didn't start brightly with a 20th-place qualifying effort, but circumstances only worsened once the green flag waved. A battery issue set things off on the wrong foot only for a malfunctioning cooling suit to compound Cindric's misery throughout the running. In the end, Cindric drove to the garage and out of the race with less than 50 laps remaining. The finish was also Cindric's third outside of the top 20 since the season began. Consistency is lacking, and Cindric is losing ground early in the playoff hunt. The coming race at Darlington could also pose a challenge. Cindric has a best finish of 13th at the track in this series, which came last fall. A return to the top 15 this week would be a welcome step forward after Martinsville's struggle.

Josh Berry - Sunday afternoon started brightly for Berry and the No. 21 team. The first caution of the race enabled Berry to avoid pitting to gain track position, which he used to lead the next 40 laps of the race. Those were the first laps the No. 21 machine led at Martinsville since 2005. The afternoon began to come undone during the next caution, though. It was then that Berry headed to pit road where he had contact with Bubba Wallace. That trouble only got worse when alternator issues began hampering the car, forcing the team to make a battery change in the second stage. After the change, Berry spent most of the afternoon laps down to the leaders where he stayed until finishing four laps behind in 32nd. The coming week's trip to Darlington could be a boost, though. Berry finished third there last spring and led five laps before crashing out of the fall race.

Erik Jones - The Martinsville race weekend will be one Jones hopes to forget quickly. Despite a fifth-place finish in the race's first stage, Jones suffered nothing but trouble afterward. That trouble eventually pushed the No. 43 off of the lead lap, which led to a 24th-place finish on track. Afterward the situation got worse. The car failed to meet minimum weight in post-race inspection and was disqualified from the race, losing all of the points Jones accumulated with the stage and dropping his race finish to 38th. It was the worst finish for Jones since the 2021 season and the second disqualification of his career. Jones fell outside of the top 20 in the series standings due to the lack of points, which creates a big hole from which he and the team need to dig out of. Darlington couldn't be coming at a better time for him, though. He is a two-time winner at the track, and this week's race gives him a chance at a quick rebound.

William Byron - Despite qualifying 10th for Sunday's race, Byron wasn't able to deliver a top finish. Trouble on pit road, in the form of a long stop, forced Byron to lose contact with the front-runners. From there, Byron hung around the top 15 for the majority of the afternoon and slipped back to 22nd place for the finish. The result was Byron's lowest since Atlanta and his second outside of the top 20 this season. Despite the slip, Byron maintains his position atop the standings, though. With Darlington on the horizon, Byron and his Hendrick teammates will be assessing what needs to be done to catch Toyota. Martinsville is a track that has been a happy hunting ground for the Hendrick Chevrolets in the past, but that advantage was all Toyota's last week. Byron and others will be working to close that gap this week at the track Byron won at in 2023.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Todd Gilliland - Gilliland converted a 25th-place start into a top-10 finish Sunday at Martinsville. The finish was his second top-10 of the season and his first on an oval this year. It really was a veteran performance for the young diver, too. Despite fighting poor track position all afternoon, Gilliland kept his cool and methodically worked his way forward throughout the entire race, finally cracking into the top 10 and then managing his tires through a 75-lap green-flag run to the finish to stay there. Sunday's effort was a good advertisement for Gilliland's potential, and it also showed that under the right conditions, he can continue to grab top results and potentially even win a race. That promise could be on display at Darlington, too. Gilliland has a best finish of 11th at the track with finishes of 15th and 17th in the two visits last season.