Denny Hamlin runs down Matt DiBenedetto for Bristol win

Hamlin, who started on the pole, got into second with 45 of 500 laps remaining then patiently ran down DiBenedetto, finally passing him with 11 laps to go. DiBenedetto remained close but could not get another chance to pass Hamlin back before the finish.

The win is Hamlin’s fourth of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season and second in the last four races. It’s also the 35th victory of his career.

"I'm just want to say sorry to Matt DiBendetto and Mike Wheeler (his crew chief). I hate it," Hamlin said. "I know a win would mean a lot to that team but I got to give 110 percent to my whole team. Just sorry.

"This team gave me a great car. Everybody is doing an amazing job. We're just kicking ass."

Asked how he ran down DiBenedetto, Hamlin said, "Between my spotter and crew chief, they just stayed on me to not be anxious. I took my time. I had plenty of time. I just worked him over and worked him over. 

"I didn't want to show him the bottom (lane) until I knew I could make the pass. So I ran the top, ran the top, got the position on the bottom and finished it. We had a great car, came back from a couple laps down and here we are."

Brad Keselowski finished third, Kyle Busch was fourth and Chase Elliott completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 were Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, Kyle Busch elected not to pit and took over the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 260. He was followed by Elliott, Erik Jones, Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr.

On Lap 265, Keselowski came off Turn 2 and got around Kyle Busch to take the lead for the first time in the race.

With 200 laps remaining in the race, Keselowski maintained a small lead over Kyle Busch with Elliott in third, followed by Truex and Jones.

By Lap 330, Keselowski remained the leader followed by Kyle Busch but Jones had moved his way into the third position.

Kevin Harvick, who went to the garage just before the conclusion of Stage 2, was officially declared out of the race on Lap 341 with a clutch issue. He led 28 laps early in the race.

Kyle Busch got a good run off Turn 2 on Lap 352 and went to the inside of Keselowski to take the lead. 

On Lap 362, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman made contact off Turn 2 to bring out a caution. Just before the caution, Truex had tagged the wall and was forced to drop to pit road for repairs.

The lead-lap cars elected to pit with Kyle Busch the first driver off pit road. He led the way on the restart on Lap 371, followed by Jones, Keselowski, Elliott and Bowyer.

On Lap 373, a multi-car wrecked erupted in Turn 2 involving Blaney, Michael McDowell, David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Blaney appeared to have a tire go down. 

Just before the caution, Jones got around Kyle Busch to take the lead for the first time in the race.

On the restart on Lap 388, Jones led the way followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott, DiBenedetto and Keselowski.

DiBenedetto got around Jones off Turn 2 on Lap 396 to take the lead for the first time. Jones tagged the wall just after the move and fell off the pace. He eventually went to pit road under green for repairs.

With 90 to go, DiBenedetto had moved out to a 1.2-second lead over Elliott. Keselowski was third, Hamlin fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.

After 440 laps, Elliott was closing on DiBenedetto for the lead as Keselowski ran close behind in third.

With 45 laps remaining, Hamlin moved into the second position as Keselowski ran third, Elliott fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.

With 25 to go, DiBenedetto maintained a small but consistent lead over Hamlin as Keselowski remained in third.

On Lap 490, Hamlin finally worked his way around DiBenedetto to reclaim the lead.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	500		79
2	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	500	0.502	93
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	500	6.370	91
4	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	500	6.434	30
5	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	500	6.714	33
6	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	500	6.975	62
7	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	500	13.613
8	41	Daniel Suarez	Ford	499	1 lap
9	1	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	499	1 lap	9
10	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	499	1 lap
11	6	Ryan Newman	Ford	499	1 lap
12	8	Daniel Hemric	Chevrolet	499	1 lap
13	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	498	2 laps	52
14	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	498	2 laps
15	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	497	3 laps
16	22	Joey Logano	Ford	497	3 laps
17	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	497	3 laps
18	47	Ryan Preece	Chevrolet	497	3 laps
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	496	4 laps
20	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	496	4 laps
21	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	496	4 laps
22	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	495	5 laps	23
23	21	Paul Menard	Ford	495	5 laps
24	32	Corey Lajoie	Ford	494	6 laps
25	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	490	10 laps
26	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	490	10 laps
27	36	Matt Tifft	Ford	487	13 laps
28	54	J.J. Yeley	Ford	485	15 laps
29	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	482	18 laps
30	27	Quin Houff	Chevrolet	478	22 laps
31	52	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	474	26 laps
32	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	410	90 laps
33	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	391	109 laps
34	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	387	113 laps
35	53	Josh Bilicki	Chevrolet	373	127 laps
36	38	David Ragan	Ford	371	129 laps
37	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	368	132 laps
38	77	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	269	231 laps
39	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	244	256 laps	28