NASCAR News: Hamlin holds off Elliott to win Pennzoil 400 in Vegas

Veteran Denny Hamlin (pictured) drove his #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Yahoo Toyota to victory in the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hamlin held off the closing Hendrick Chevys of #9 Chase Elliott and the #24 of William Byron.

Elliott finished 0.502s behind Hamlin while Byron was 3.414s behind.

In getting his 61st NASCAR Cup race, he broke a tie for 10th with Kevin Harvick. Hamlin led the most laps (134 of 267) and pretty much dominated all day long, except for a speeding penalty on pit lane that required him to drive from 31st to 1st..

Christopher Bell was 4th in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 3.787s behind teammate Hamlin.

Rounding out the top-5 was Ty Gibbs in the third Joe Gibb racing Toyota, 4.441s behind Hamlin.

Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

A Connor Zilisch spin on Lap 211 acted as the first on-track yellow of the race. All lead lap cars pitted during the subsequent stop, with Christopher Bell winning the race off pit road. Hamlin, however, cleared Bell on Lap 219, two laps after the green flag waved on Lap 217 and never looked back.

More to follow….

The next week the Cup series moves to Martinsville, followed by a week off for Easter.

Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Race Results