Denny Hamlin earned a milestone victory Sunday afternoon on the way to taking the next step to a possible first championship.
The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver rocketed past teammate Chase Briscoe to win the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series’ Round of 8 playoff, the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After a restart wreck for the fifth caution involving Ty Gibbs, Hamlin restarted sixth, worked through traffic, and passed Kyle Larson then Briscoe to notch his series-best sixth win this season by 1.533 seconds over Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet.
The Round of 8 win made Hamlin the first participant of the four drivers who will compete for the title in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix next month.
The Toyota driver’s second Vegas win was the 60th of his career, tying him with Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time Cup list.
The triumph was Toyota’s first at Vegas since Hamlin did it in 2021.
An emotional Hamlin, who usually chides the crowd from the frontstretch by saying “I beat your favorite driver today,” broke character while thinking of his ill father, Dennis, and the momentous win.
“Yeah, this one means a lot,” said a slightly weepy Hamlin, who led nine laps, while holding the checkers. “This is the point where I usually give the fans some (stuff), but not today. I appreciate all of you so much. … I didn’t think we were (going to get 60), but I just put the pedal down those last 10 laps and made it happen.”
With about 25 laps to go, first-year crew chief Chris Gayle made the decision to put four tires on the No. 11 while four of the five drivers in front of Hamlin, everyone but Larson, took two to gain track position.
“Chris did an amazing job getting the car just right, and I just held it down,” said Hamlin, who easily passed Briscoe with five laps to go after the No. 19 car took two tires. “That’s all I could do. … Go for it and punch the ticket now.”
Christopher Bell, Briscoe and Tyler Reddick completed the top five.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron crashed late in the race and ended up 36th.
Championship disaster struck with nine laps to go in Stage 1 as 2023 series champ Ryan Blaney cut a tire near Turn 3 and struck the wall hard, forcing him out of the No. 12 Ford and putting him immediately in playoff peril by finishing last in the 38-car field.
After pit work, Byron restarted at the point and claimed the 80-lap first segment. Larson, Briscoe, Hamlin and Chase Elliott earned the top five stage points. But Elliott’s crew had an uncontrolled tire roll into the pit stall in front of the Chevrolet, handing the No. 9 a penalty.
In Stage 2, Larson grabbed the lead from Byron and dominated the race’s middle portion. The 2021 champ, who led a race-high 129 circuits, pocketed the top points, followed by Reddick, Byron, Hamlin and Briscoe.
The final stage, which started on Lap 173, had Larson at the front being hounded by Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota, yet the No. 5 Chevrolet held on and watched as teammate Byron moved into second with 75 laps to go.
Another huge title hit occurred with 31 laps left as Byron, who led 55 laps, did not realize Ty Dillon was pitting and smashed into the No. 10 Chevrolet while on the track coming to the entrance to pit road.
–Field Level Media
