Denny Hamlin Snags His 60th Career NASCAR Cup Win at Las Vegas

A charging Denny Hamlin sailed past leader Chase Briscoe with four laps remaining in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to claim his sixth victory this season, the 60th of his career and a berth in the Championship Four for the first time since 2021.

It was an emotional victory for the 44-year-old Hamlin, who wiped tears from his eyes on the cool-down lap and again after climbing from his car. The Virginia native had desperately wanted to obtain his 60th career victory for his 75-year-old father Dennis, who has been dealing with health issues. Hamlin, who spent seven-and-a-half hours in the SIM preparing for the event, is now tied with Kevin Harvick for 10th on NASCAR’s all-time Cup Series victory list.

Hamlin’s 57th victory in a Toyota made him that manufacturer’s winningest driver in the Cup Series. Previously, he was tied with Kyle Busch, who drove a Toyota to 56 victories. Hamlin’s victory gives Toyota the distinction of being the only OEM to have a driver in the Championship Four every year since the current format was adopted.

“This is the point where I kind of give the fans some shit, but not today. I appreciate all of you so much,” Hamlin said as he teared up again while on the 1.5-mile track’s frontstretch. “Obviously, want to say hi to my dad, family back at home.”

Hamlin said crew chief Chris Gayle did an “amazing job” getting his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota where it needed to be for the final run.”

With laps winding down in the 267-lap race, it appeared Hamlin’s 60th victory would once again elude him. After getting four fresh tires during the fourth caution period, Hamlin was 10th when the race restarted with 22 laps remaining. However, an 11-car crash occurred on the restart following the fourth caution, and Hamlin slipped through. This time the JGR driver was sixth behind Briscoe, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, and Brad Keselowski, respectively.

With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin sat third. Five laps later he snatched second from Larson, who was the race’s top lap leader, setting the pace for 129 laps. Hamlin then set his sights on teammate Briscoe who was leading but had only taken two tires on his final pit stop. Hamlin didn’t let up on his charge.

“I felt like I had nothing to lose,” the emotional Hamlin said. “The last 15 laps I didn’t think we were going to win.”

Briscoe, who finished fourth, said he thought he was in a good position for the first three or four laps following the restart because his car “drove really good.”

“As I ran, I was just absolutely sideways,” Briscoe said. “Just really loose at the end.”

Briscoe goes to Talladega 15 points above the cutline.

Lack of Communication Devastating for Byron

William Byron didn’t know Ty Dillon was slowing to pit. Dillon didn’t know his spotter hadn’t communicated his intention to pit to the other spotters, so he didn’t signal to the drivers behind him. The miscommunication was disastrous for both drivers.

Byron, who led three times for 55 laps in the 267-lap race, was second at the time and a strong victory contender. However, on lap 236 his victory hopes came to a disastrous halt. At the turn four exit, Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet slammed into the rear of Dillon’s Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, destroying both cars. John Hunter Nemechek also was caught up in the accident.

“I had zero idea (he was pitting),” Byron said. “It was probably 12 to 15 laps after we had pitted, so I thought the cycle was fully over. Nobody said anything to my spotter, from what I know.

“Everyone has been wrapping the paint really far around the corner and that’s what I was doing to have a good lap. I was watching him (Dillon) thinking, ‘OK, he missed the bottom a little bit here.’ He just started slowing and I had no idea what was going on. I’m just devastated. With as good as we were and as good as the race was going, for random things like that to happen, it just sucks. I can’t believe it.”

Byron enters Talladega 15 points below the cutline.

Restart Chaos Creates 11-Car Crash

A chaotic restart in the first turn following the fourth caution period involved 11 cars, including playoff drivers Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell. All of the competitors escaped injury. However, Elliott’s 18th-place finish leaves him 23 points below the cutline heading to Talladega. Bell remained above the cutline with his third-place finish.

Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was strong early in the race, but a penalty on lap 118 for a pit road tire violation cost him a lap. He regained his lost lap at the start of the third caution period, but his car didn’t handle well in the back of the pack.

“I needed something pretty different balance-wise to be good back there,” Elliott said. “I probably missed a little bit on my first read. We only had a couple shots to try and help that.”

In the 11-car accident, Elliott said his car got hit on the left-rear tire, but it was too late in the race to pit.

Bell said that during the race’s second half, he thought he had his car where he needed it for a victory charge. Then came the 11-car wreck.

“The sun is right there. There’s tire smoke,” said Bell, who’s third in the standings. “I had no idea where any of ‘em were. Just kind of prayed, hit the brake, tried to keep it as far left as I could. Fortunately, we missed it.”

Crash Relegates Blaney to Must-Win

Prognosticators constantly cited Ryan Blaney as the Team Penske driver that would make it to the Championship Four, but an accident in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has put him in a must-win situation.

On lap 72 of the 267-lap race, Blaney’s Ford cut a tire and slammed into the fourth-turn wall, destroying the car’s steering. That relegated him to a last-place finish in the 38-car field, putting him 31 points below the cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 8.

Blaney said he had no warning that he was going to lose the left-front tire.

“As soon as I lifted into (turn) three it blew out,” Blaney said.

“It’s unfortunate we’ve got to be in these spots, but we’ve got to bounce back. I’m not overjoyed. We’ll have to come from behind like we did last year. We just can’t have a smooth day it seems like.”

Blaney’s teammate Joey Logano recorded a sixth-place finish but remained 24 points below the cutline heading to Talladega. Like Blaney, Logano is in a must-win situation if he wants to advance to the Championship Four.

Love Confronts Sanchez

An angry Jesse Love confronted Nick Sanchez after the Focused Health 302 for the way Sanchez raced the playoff driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Sanchez finished fifth and Love placed sixth in the 201-lap event won by Aric Almirola.

Love cited three reasons that he was upset with Sanchez: Their past experience; Sanchez’s reputation and track record; and the situation that occurred on the track during the event.

“We about crashed four times on the straightaway side bumping each other, and then he put on my door four laps in a row until I about crashed,” Love said. “I’m just obviously very frustrated.”

Sanchez acknowledged that Love was angry about the way he had raced him.

“I was racing him no different than the way he was racing me, touching me down the straightaway, side drafting me, doing all those things,” Sanchez said. “Last time I checked, we were racing for a win. I understand he (Love) is racing for a championship. I’m racing for a win.”

NASCAR Cup South Point 400

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

FINISH/START/DRIVER/MANUFACTURER/LAPS/POINTS

1. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 54

2. (6) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, 54

3. (3) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 267, 43

4. (2) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 267, 48

5. (8) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 267, 44

6. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 34

7. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267, 33

8. (32) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 267, 29

9. (16) Ryan Preece, Ford, 267, 28

10. (34) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 27

11. (31) Austin Cindric, Ford, 267, 26

12. (11) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267, 25

13. (28) Noah Gragson, Ford, 267, 24

14. (24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 267, 23

15. (19) Erik Jones, Toyota, 267, 22

16. (18) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 267, 21

17. (33) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 267, 20

18. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267, 25

19. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 267, 18

20. (17) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267, 17

21. (30) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267, 16

22. (7) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267, 20

23. (15) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267, 14

24. (23) Zane Smith, Ford, 267, 13

25. (25) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 12

26. (29) Josh Berry, Ford, 266, 11

27. (27) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 266, 10

28. (21) Cole Custer, Ford, 266, 9

29. (26) John HunterNemechek, Toyota, 265 8

30. (37) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 263, 0

31. (38) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, 261, 6

32. (22) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 252, 6

33. (13) Shane van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 245, 4

34. (10) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 244, 9

35. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 243, 2

36. (5) William Byron, Chevrolet, 235, 19

37. (35) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 233, 1

38. (14) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 70, 1