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Hamlin siezes emotional 60th Cup Series win at LVMS to advance into Championship 4

Denny Hamlin scored an emotional victory and claimed a significant career milestone with a dramatic win in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ South Point 400 Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hamlin passed two cars in the final 10 laps, ultimately taking the lead from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe with four laps remaining then holding off the day’s most dominant driver Kyle Larson by 1.533s to claim his series’ best sixth win of the season and 60th win of his career.

The win secures the first of four positions in the Nov. 2 Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway – landing Hamlin his first title shot since 2021.

Hamlin was notably moved in the moments after climbing out of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Instead of the typical playful banter the veteran normally delivers to the crowd after a win, the 44-year-old Virginian spoke more solemnly, mentioning his father Dennis, who has been ill.

“This win means a lot. This is the point where I kind of give the fans some [grief] but not today. I appreciate you all so much,” said Hamlin, his eyes water-filled as he looked toward the crowded grandstands.

“Obviously just want to say ‘hi’ to my dad and family back at home,” Hamlin added, his voice cracking with emotion. “We were hoping to get 60 [wins] today, but didn’t think we were. Just put the pedal down those last 10 laps and made it happen.

“(Crew chief) Chris (Gayle) did an amazing job on that final stop getting the car just right and I just held it down. That’s all I could do, just go for it. I felt like I had nothing to lose, just go for it and try to punch a ticket now and it feels great.

“Just super proud of the team for making all the adjustments they did and the pit crew for doing a great job all day.”

It marked the eighth time Hamlin and fellow Playoff contender Larson have finished in some combination of first and second place. Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the class of the field for most of the day – leading a race high 129 of the 267 laps – but was unable to hold off Hamlin’s pole-winning Toyota heading to the checkered flag.

“I thought we did everything that we could do,” said Larson, who now holds a 35-point advantage above the Playoff cutline. “The Toyotas were really fast for the short-run there. I saw the No. 11 (Hamlin) line up behind me and I knew he’d be difficult to hold off. If any one of the Toyotas got clear and could get rolling, I knew it would be tough.

“He did a great job, though. He still had to make the right moves, which he did. I felt like I was doing all I could to stay in front of him, while also trying to track down the No. 19 (Briscoe). We just came up a little bit short, but overall, it was a great day for the No. 5 Chevrolet team.”

 

Larson, like Hamlin, took four tires on the final pit stop and lined up on the second row for the final restart with 14 laps remaining. Hamlin’s teammate Briscoe was out front, benefitting from a two-tire call that gave him better track position.

Hamlin restarted fifth and made his way forward, passing Larson with five laps remaining and then getting around Briscoe with four laps remaining. Larson and then Christopher Bell also got around Briscoe in the closing laps.

It marked the 15th time this year Toyota had four of a race’s top five finishing drivers. The effort gives Bell a 20-point advantage on the cutoff line in third-place and Briscoe a 15-point edge.

“I was hanging on but I thought I was in a really good spot there for that last three or four laps on that restart,” said Briscoe, who finished fourth.  “My car drove really good and as I ran, I was just absolutely sideways. Thought there for a while when they (Larson and Hamlin) were racing hard I’d be able to sneak one off, but just really really loose there at the end. At least a JGR car won but that’s going to sting for a while.”

While Briscoe didn’t win, his top-five finish certainly helped his Playoff chances, too. Four of the top six finishers – Hamlin, Larson, Bell and Briscoe – are among the current field of eight Playoff drivers competing for a Championship 4 appearance with two races remaining in this penultimate round – next week at the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and the next week at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Reigning series champion and current Playoff driver, Team Penske’s Joey Logano also gambled on a two-tire stop on that last caution period and was able to manage a sixth-place finish. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was 18th, rallying from an early race pit miscue and penalty.

Elliott’s teammate, regular season champion and Daytona 500 winner William Byron finished 36th after a bizarre late-race collision when his No. 24 Chevrolet car slammed into the back of the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Ty Dillon, who pulled down to pit although Byron, running at full speed, said he had absolutely no signal of Dillon’s intention.

The incident cost Byron dearly in the standings, dropping him to 15 points below the cutoff line, followed by Elliott (-23), Logano (-24) and Ryan Blaney (-31).

As with Byron who won Stage 1 and led 55 laps Sunday, Penske’s Blaney – the 2023 series champion – also had tough outing, finishing last in the 38-car field and dropping from second in the points to eighth.

Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford had a tire problem late in the opening stage and slammed into the wall only 70 laps in.

His disappointment after getting out his car was palpable. He’s finished 32nd or worse in the last three Las Vegas races. The upside for him, however, is that he has three wins at Talladega Superspeedway and has won the last two Martinsville Playoff races.

“I’m not very happy right now, but tomorrow morning I’ll be optimistic to go to the next race,” Blaney said. “We’ve had good success at the next two events, so hopefully we can come and bring the speed and try to overcome the hole we put ourselves in today.”

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick was the lone non-Playoff driver among the top five Sunday, finishing fifth in his Toyota. Hendrick’s Alex Bowman, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the Talladega Superspeedway high banks next Sunday for the Yellawood 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the defending race winner.

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