Denny Hamlin earned another crack at his first NASCAR Cup Series championship, winning from the pole position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to open the third round of the playoffs.
With his series-leading sixth win this season and the 60th of his career (tying Kevin Harvick for 10th all time), Hamlin, 44, became the first driver to qualify for the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway next month.
He also became the oldest Cup winner at Las Vegas in returning to the title race for the first time in four years. This will be the fifth Championship 4 berth for Hamlin, who also raced for the title in 2014, ’19, ’20 and ’21.
Joe Gibbs Racing star qualifies for Championship 4 with his 60th career victory.
Kyle Larson finished second, followed by Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick. Joey Logano was sixth.
Hamlin overcame two slow pit stops and a missed shift at the start and was one of several playoff drivers to encounter adversity.
Chase Elliott was penalized for an uncontrolled tire and finished 18th. William Byron (36th) and Ryan Blaney (38th) both were involved in crashes that dropped them below the playoff cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 8.
Joe Gibbs Racing star rallies from medicore pit stops to earn win after final restart.
Larson is ranked second in the standings among the eight remaining playoff drivers, 35 points above the cutline. The other drivers: Bell (plus-20), Briscoe (plus-15), Byron (minus-15), Elliott (minues-23), Logano (minus-24) and Blaney (minus-31).
Here’s the finishing order at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
1. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
2. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
3. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
4. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
5. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
6. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
7. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
8. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
9. Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
10. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
11. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
12. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
13. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
15. Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
16. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
17. Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
18. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
19. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
20. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
21. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
22. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
23. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
24. Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
25. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
26. Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
27. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
28. Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
29. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
30. JJ Yele, No. 44 Chevrolet
31. Katherine Legge, No. 78 Ford
32. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
33. Shane Van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
34. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
35. Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
36. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
37. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
38. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
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