Denny Hamlin led a race-high 134 laps Sunday (March 15) on the way to his 61st career NASCAR Cup Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, breaking a tie with Kevin Harvick for 10th on the series’ all-time wins list.
Hamlin had a strong car all day and was able to bounce back from a speeding penalty he received on pit road during the break between the first and second stages. It was Hamlin’s first win since his emotional victory at Las Vegas last October and his first since his father’s death this past offseason.
“This is a family sport, and my family obviously had so much sacrifice to help me get here,” Hamlin said in his post-race frontstretch interview. “I know dad’s still saying that’s my boy.”
Chase Elliott finished in the runner-up spot and ran out of laps to track Hamlin down. William Byron finished third after leading 26 laps and winning the second stage, while pole winner and stage one winner Christopher Bell finished fourth. Ty Gibbs crossed the line in fifth to put three Joe Gibbs Racing cars in the top-five.
“He was getting really tight and I was able to paint the line,” Elliott said about his attempt to chase down Hamlin. “I just never got close enough to make a big move.”
Chris Buescher was the highest Ford in sixth, while Kyle Larson faded to seventh after running up front all day. Chase Briscoe overcame a speeding penalty under green to finish eighth, while Bubba Wallace and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.
O’Reilly Breakdown: Kyle Larson Extends JRM Streak to 3 Races
In a Pennzoil 400 that saw only three cautions and just one for an incident, all 36 cars finished the race. Connor Zilisch spun in the final stage to bring out the only caution besides the stage breaks after making contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of turn 4. The rookie finished 32nd, two laps down.
Justin Allgaier sped on pit road twice in the opening stage while filling in for Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports entry; he ended up finishing in 25th, two laps down.
Tyler Reddick finished 13th and remains the points leader after five races; he holds a 61-point lead over his 23XI teammate Wallace. Ryan Blaney is third and 67 points back, while Hamlin jumped eight spots to fourth in points with the win, trailing Reddick by 78 points.
Las Vegas Cup Series Results
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to action next Sunday, March 22 at Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400. It will be the sixth race of the season and coverage will begin at 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
TSN didn’t televise the event and isn’t televising the entertaining example of Brian’s product next Sunday from Darlington on their regular channels. But they did have it on TSN+ and will also next Sunday. I didn’t miss it at all. I guess I agree with them that the golf was more worthwhile. And anything else!
Greed, greed, greed. They want to wring every last drop from the fans.