Two months ago, Denny Hamlin wasn’t sure if he wanted to go racing in 2026.
One of NASCAR’s winningest drivers saw a first Cup Series championship slip through his fingers in November before suffering a huge tragedy at home during the winter break. He lost his father Dennis in a fire that destroyed the Hamlin family’s home on Dec. 28.
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This weekend he returned to the site of his most recent win – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – and made it to victory lane again, winning the Pennzoil 400 Sunday, March 15.
“This is family sport and my family obviously had so much sacrifice to help me get here,” Hamlin said. “It’s great that mom gets to see this and dad is still saying ‘that’s my boy.’ Hell of a day.”
PENNZOIL 400: Full recap, highlights from NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas
Hamlin battled back from as low as 31st in the field to get a win today. He led a race-high 134 of 267 laps, including the final 48 after passing polesitter Christopher Bell.
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He edged Chase Elliott by half a second but it was between those two drivers. They had a three-second gap to the rest of the field by the time the checkered flag came out at Las Vegas.
Today’s win was a milestone for Hamlin as he hit 61 career Cup Series wins. He passed Kevin Harvick for sole possession 10th place on the all-time wins list, two behind former Joe Gibbs Racing team Kyle Busch for ninth.
He also became the fifth driver to win a race in 20 different seasons, joining NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon.
“Those are legends of the sport, and I feel very fortunate to be on the list,” Hamlin said. “But those guys were far more talented than I have ever thought about being. I just work really hard… days like today certainly make me feel happy about where I’m at in sports still and what I can still do.”
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Here’s the highlights and final leaderboard from the Pennzoil NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas highlights
NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas: Full results
Here’s how the field finished the Pennzoil 400:
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(11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
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(9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
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(24) William Byron, Chevrolet
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(20) Christopher Bell, Toyota
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(17) Chris Buescher, Ford
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(5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
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(19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota
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(23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota
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(6) Brad Keselowski, Ford
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(3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
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(45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota
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(1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
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(7) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet
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(42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota
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(77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
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(35) Riley Herbst, Toyota
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(16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet
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(48) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet
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(71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
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(41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet
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(8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
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(47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet
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(88) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet
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(10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet
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(34) Todd Gilliland, Ford
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(51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet
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(97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who won NASCAR race at Las Vegas? Full results after Denny Hamlin win
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