Denny Hamlin Storms to Las Vegas Win, Clinches Championship Berth

Denny Hamlin burning it down after scoring career win No. 60 and clinching a spot in the Championship 4. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | Overbey Photography)

LAS VEGAS — In exciting fashion, Denny Hamlin won the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and became the first driver to lock themselves into the Championship 4.

The victory is also the 60th of Hamlin’s career, tying him with Kevin Harvick for 10th all-time on the NASCAR Cup Series wins list. The milestone, along with the dedication of the win to his father, Dennis Hamlin, led to the victory being one of the more emotional for Hamlin.

“Definitely means a lot,” he said. “Obviously, want to say ‘hi’ to my dad and family back at home, hoping we’d get (win No.) 60. I didn’t think we were. I just put the pedal down those last 10 laps and made it happen.”

On the final restart, Hamlin lined up in sixth place with 14 laps remaining. After a stagnant first few green flag laps, Hamlin began flying through the top five, taking the lead away from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe with three laps to go.

Denny Hamlin celebrating after winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | Overbey Photography)

“Chris (Gayle, crew chief) did an amazing job on that final stop getting the car just right,” Hamlin said. “I just held it down. I felt like I had nothing to do. Just go for it. Punch the ticket now, and this one feels great.”

Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway will be Hamlin’s first Championship 4 appearance since 2021 as he searches for his elusive first NASCAR Cup Series title. Even though the victory was “surprising” for Hamlin, he knew the only option was to go for it and win his way into the finale.

“I just don’t know what to say,” said Hamlin. “It was very unexpected with those last 15 laps. I didn’t think we were going to win, but I knew I was going to give it all I had.”

The final two restarts of the race were set up following a massive collision between playoff contender William Byron, who was running in second place, and Ty Dillon. Byron, who was running in the bottom lane, ran into the back of Dillon’s car coming out of Turn 4.

Denny Hamlin won the South Point 400 for career win No. 60 and a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | Overbey Photography)

Dillon was attempting to come down pit road, but Byron was unaware of that information, hitting the No. 10 car in the rear at full speed.

“I didn’t see any indication that he was pitting,” said Byron. “Nobody said anything to my spotter, from what I know. I obviously wouldn’t have just driven full speed in the back of them like that.”

When asked about the incident, Dillon believed the No. 24 team was aware of him attempting to come down pit road, causing him to be caught off guard by the incident.

“My spotter told me he let the (No.) 24 team’s spotter know we were coming to pit road,” Dillon said. “Maybe I didn’t wave him off enough, but I feel like at this level you kind of trust your spotter to do that. So, maybe just a lack of information being transferred.”

William Byron finished in 36th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after a collision with Ty Dillon late in the race. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | Overbey Photography)

The incident also had big playoff implications, as Byron now sits 15 points below the playoff cutline headed to Talladega Superspeedway.

“Just as good as the race was going, for random (expletive) to happen like that sucks,” Byron said. “I can’t believe it. I had no idea what was going on.”

Before that incident, Kyle Larson was cruising to the victory, which would have been his first since Kansas Speedway in May. In total, he led 129 of the 267 laps but came up one spot shy of the win and an automatic ticket to the Championship 4.

“Would’ve liked this issue with the (No.) 1o (Dillon) and the (No.) 24 (Byron) not to happen,” Larson said. “We had just kind of taken control of the race there and were going to cruise to a victory. But that’s racing, and it gets crazy. Happy though to still get a good finish, it was getting hectic out there.”

Larson still leaves Las Vegas Motor Speedway second on the playoff grid, 35 points to the good with two races remaining in the Round of 8.

Denny Hamlin (No. 11) battling Kyle Larson (No. 5) for position in the South Point 400. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | Overbey Photography)

Rounding out the top five behind Hamlin and Larson were Christopher Bell, Briscoe and Tyler Reddick. Scoring top 10s were Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski.

Finishing in 38th place was Ryan Blaney, who cut a tire and hit the wall hard in Stage 1. As a result, he fell from second in the playoff standings to eighth, 31 points below the cutline.

“We’ve got to go win one of the next two weeks,” said Blaney. “Hopefully, we can rebound and do it. Not the spot you want to be in.”

The NASCAR Cup Series returns next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway for the Yellawood 500 on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2 p.m. EST on NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. William Byron
2. Kyle Larson
3. Chase Briscoe
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Chase Elliott
6. Bubba Wallace
7. Christopher Bell
8. Tyler Reddick
9. Ty Gibbs
10. Joey Logano

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Kyle Larson
2. Tyler Reddick
3. William Byron
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Chase Briscoe
6. Christopher Bell
7. Ty Gibbs
8. Alex Bowman
9. Joey Logano
10. Carson Hocevar

Playoff Standings (Race 1/3 in the Round of 8)

1. Denny Hamlin (ADVANCED)
2. Kyle Larson (+35)
3. Christopher Bell (+20)
4. Chase Briscoe (+15)
5. William Byron (-15)
6. Chase Elliott (-23)
7. Joey Logano (-24)
8. Ryan Blaney (-31)

South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Finishing Results