NASCAR News: Hamlin holds off Larson to win Vegas Cup race

Denny Hamlin played his cards perfectly with a set of fresh tires, powering his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory in the Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 opener—the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway—on Sunday evening.

The win marked Hamlin’s sixth of the 2025 season and his 60th career triumph, tying him with Kevin Harvick for 10th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. More crucially, it punched his ticket to the Championship 4 finale on Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway, where the elusive Cup title hangs in the balance.

Starting from the pole, Hamlin led just nine laps but made them count, holding off a hard-charging Kyle Larson by 1.533 seconds in a nail-biting finish. Larson settled for second, followed by Christopher Bell in third, Chase Briscoe in fourth, and Tyler Reddick rounding out the top five.

Late-Race Chaos Seals the Deal

The race’s turning point came with 32 laps remaining, when a high-stakes pit strategy call reshaped the entire field. William Byron, who had led three times for 55 laps and was closing in on leader Larson after a brief bobble, suddenly found himself blindsided. As he bore down in second, lapped car Ty Dillon’s No. 10 Chevrolet peeled off unexpectedly for pits, leaving Byron no time to react. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports machine slammed into Dillon’s rear at full throttle, erupting into a grinding crash that flew the caution flag.

Under yellow, Briscoe and Joey Logano rolled the dice with two-tire stops, hoping to leapfrog the field on the restart. Their bet looked golden when a multi-car pileup shortly after going green shrunk the final run to just 14 laps. But Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart opted for four fresh tires, a decision that proved masterful. Hamlin slotted into second after a fierce battle with Larson, then sliced past Briscoe on the outside with four laps left, pulling away to the checkers.

A Win That Hits Close to Home

For a driver often cast as the series’ sly antagonist, Hamlin’s post-race demeanor was a rare departure—raw emotion poured out over team radio and in Victory Lane. The victory carried extra weight amid his father Dennis’s ongoing health struggles, turning what could have been a routine playoff punch-in into a deeply personal milestone.

Ditching his usual crowd-baiting flair, Hamlin addressed the fans with unfiltered gratitude: “This is the point where I kind of give the fans some shit, but not today. I appreciate all of you so much.” To reporters, he credited Gabehart’s flawless final stop: “[He] 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 is just go for it. I felt like I had nothing to lose. Just go for it and try to punch the ticket now. And, man, this one feels great.”

Behind him, Larson and Bell overtook Briscoe in the frantic closing laps for second and third. Reddick held fifth, while Logano’s two-tire ploy netted sixth. Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10.

Byron’s Heartbreak and Playoff Fallout

Byron’s day, once brimming with promise, ended in devastation. After the crash, he vented frustration over the lack of warning: “I never saw him wave. I didn’t see any indication that he was pitting, and it was probably 12 to 15 laps after we had pitted, so I thought the cycle [of green flag stops] was fully over. Nobody said anything to my spotter from what I know. I had zero idea… I’m just devastated. I had no indication, so I obviously wouldn’t have just driven full speed into the back of him like that.”

The 36th-place finish was a brutal blow for the playoff contender. Fellow Round of 8 driver Ryan Blaney fared even worse, tagging the wall in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 72 after a tire failure shredded his No. 12 Ford, leaving him 38th. Chase Elliott salvaged 18th despite a pit-road penalty for an uncontrolled tire, managing to claw back to the lead lap.

With one Round of 8 race in the books, the playoff pressure intensifies. The action shifts next Sunday to the unpredictable draft-fest at Talladega Superspeedway, where alliances—and betrayals—could shuffle the Championship 4 lineup once more.

Winner Denny Hamlin Quotes

Number 60, Denny. You make it happen here in Las Vegas. Welcome to the Championship 4, Denny Hamlin. Tears in your eyes going around the racetrack. You still have tears in your eyes. How much were you thinking about your dad, Dennis?

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, it definitely means a lot. This is the point where I kind of give the fans some shit, but not today. I appreciate all of you so much (tearing up).

Yeah, obviously want to say hi to my dad, family back at home. All the friends that came out here for Vegas, hoping we get 60.

I didn’t think we were. Put the pedal down the last 10 laps, made it happen.

How did you make it happen?

DENNY HAMLIN: Truth, Chris did an amazing job on that final stop getting the car just right. I just held it down. That’s all I could do, is just go for it. I felt like I had nothing to lose. Just go for it, try to punch a ticket now.

Man, this one feels great.

The dedication you’ve shown, because you feel your championship window is right now… Did you think it could happen today?

DENNY HAMLIN: I mean, if you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said no. Just super proud of this team for making the adjustments they did. Pit crew for doing a great job all day. Ampm, only my second race with these guys. When we get new sponsors, we typically win with them. Toyota brand, Shady Rays, Coca-Cola, Sport Clips, Progressive.

I don’t know what to say. It was very unexpected, the last 15 laps I didn’t think we were going to win. I knew I was going to give it all I had.

Loser Kyle Larson Quotes

Kyle, what ultimately did you feel like you needed more of to hold him off ultimately?

KYLE LARSON: I thought I had a big enough gap down the backstretch to go to the top, get momentum. His car, the Toyotas in general, were really, really, really fast on a short run, had a lot of speed. He must have nailed the bottom behind me, got inside. It was over from there.

Yeah, he did an awesome job. He got up on the wheel there. I felt like I was up on the wheel. He did a really good job. I tried to take his line away in three and four. He got to my outside. Rarely do you see Denny do that. He did a great job. Hats off to them.

Hats off to my team, too. We had an awesome day, as well. I think we were second maybe in the first stage, won the next stage, and second in the race.

Good points day obviously. Would have liked the issue with the 10 and the 24 to not happen because we had just kind of taken control of the race there and were going to cruise to victory. That’s racing. It gets crazy.

Happy, though, to still get a good finish. It was getting hectic there.

You go to Talladega plus 35. What is your mentality for the next couple weeks?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I don’t know. Obviously, it could completely flip next week. I do feel like our superspeedway stuff has gotten a lot better. We’ve done really well on them this year. You can never expect a good finish or a finish at all when you go there.

Yeah, we’ll just try and go and execute like we have been this year at those places. Hopefully we can have another good points day and maybe Martinsville will be a little bit easier. I know right now it shows plus 35, somebody below the cut line wins, it’s a lot less. Playoff is crazy.

South Point 400 Race Results