Hamlin passes teammate late to win South Point 400 at LVMS
Denny Hamlin has long talked about the significance of reaching 60 career NASCAR Cup Series wins.
He checked that box Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hamlin also put himself in position again to win his first Cup Series title.
It wasn’t the easiest of victories Sunday, but Hamlin persevered in the South Point 400. He passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe with four laps to go and held on to win the opening race in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR playoffs at Las Vegas’ 1½-mile D-shaped oval.
“I don’t know if I could have scripted it better,” Hamlin said of reaching 60 Cup victories. “A win at Talladega (next week) for 60 would have been awesome, but not like this. … All the factors, I just can’t imagine there’s a win bigger for me than this win with the family, the (championship) significance with it. It means the most.”
Kyle Larson finished second after leading a race-high 129 laps. Hamlin’s JGR teammates Christopher Bell and Briscoe finished third and fourth, respectively.
The win locks Hamlin into the Championship 4 in Phoenix on Nov. 2, where he will be one of four drivers eligible to race for the Cup Series title. Hamlin leads the series this season with six wins.
“I’ve had a season that has far exceeded what I thought it would,” he said. “It will set in. I’ll get nervous certainly over the next few weeks, but I’m going to be nervous about the things I could control. There’s been weird or crazy things that have kept me from winning a title and I’ve said if you get enough chances, the tides will turn.”
Hamlin, now a two-time winner at LVMS, is tied with Kevin Harvick for the 10th-most Cup Series wins at 60.
It was an emotional win for Hamlin, who had tears in his eyes in his No. 11 Toyota and for the frontstretch TV interview. He’s dedicated his recent wins to his father, who Hamlin said is “not doing well, not feeling well.”
“He’s the one that got me into racing. … I’m just super glad he was able to see 60,” Hamlin said. “That was super important to me.”
‘Huge confidence boost’
Hamlin won the pole Saturday, but his advantage didn’t last long Sunday. He lost the lead on lap 1 to Briscoe and only led nine laps total. Hamlin stayed near front most of the day, finishing fourth in both Stage 1 and 2.
It appeared Sunday was going to be a Hendrick Motorsports day at LVMS. William Byron was leading after a round of pit stops with 50 laps to go, and Larson was second.
Byron was in prime position to win, but his day changed in a matter of a few laps. With 35 laps to go, Byron got loose in Turns 1 and 2 and lost the lead to Larson. Then, with 31 laps to go, Byron, running second, hit the back of Ty Dillon’s car in Turn 4 as Dillon tried to make a pit stop.
That set up a final round of pit stops where Hamlin and most of the other leaders took four tires. But Briscoe and Joey Logano came off pit road first and second, respectively, after taking two tires.
“I considered (taking two tires), but typically here and then the fall-off we had today, I only thought two (tires) were going to be good for at most eight to 10 laps,” Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gayle said.
There was another crash after a restart with 23 laps to go. That set up another restart with 14 laps remaining. Hamlin made his way past Larson with five laps to go and set his sights on Briscoe. With four laps to the checkered flag, Hamlin went around the outside of Briscoe in Turns 1 and 2 to take the lead for good.
“It’s days like today that are a huge confidence boost that you can do this at a really, really high level,” said Hamlin, 44. “It affirms that.”
Said Briscoe, who led the second most laps (57): “I just wish it was six laps shorter or whatever it was. I was so loose at the end I had nothing left. That was everything I had. Glad at least Denny won, a JGR car. … I didn’t have enough at the end. Unfortunate.”
Playoff outlook
Despite the near misses for Larson, Bell and Briscoe, the trio are in a good points position heading into a wild card-type race at Talladega’s 2.66-mile superspeedway next week.
Larson is second in points at 35 points above the cutline for the top four to make the Championship 4. Bell is third (+20) and Briscoe is fourth (+15).
“Once I got to second (place, I needed) another caution,” Larson said. “(Hamlin) was really fast. Once he got in front of me, I knew my shot at winning was over unless (Briscoe) and him got together.”
Byron finished 32 laps down in 36th place after leading 55 laps. Byron leaves Las Vegas in fifth place in the playoff standings, 15 points below the cutoff from the top four.
That wasn’t the only issue for a playoff driver. Ryan Blaney’s Sunday came to an early end when he blew a left front tire on lap 71 and smacked the wall outside in Turns 3 and 4.
Blaney finished last (38th). He is last in the playoff standings 31 points below the cutoff. Also below the cutline are Chase Elliott in sixth (-23) and Logano in seventh (-24).
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
