The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 continues at the wild-card Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday in the YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Denny Hamlin clinched a Championship 4 berth following an emotional victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson, who finished runner-up in Sin City, sits 35 points above the postseason cutline. Christopher Bell (plus-20) and Chase Briscoe (plus-15), who finished third and fourth at Las Vegas, respectively, round out the playoff field currently in the green. William Byron (minus-15), Chase Elliott (minus-23), Joey Logano (minus-24) and Ryan Blaney (minus-31) all sit below the four-driver cut and will have two more playoff races to shift momentum back in their favor before the Championship 4 pool is cemented.
Casey Mears returns to pilot the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford for the third time this season. As driver of the No. 66 machine, Mears finished 35th and 29th at Martinsville Speedway and Daytona International Speedway (August), respectively.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs continue after a brief break in the action, with the series taking to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway on Friday afternoon (4 p.m. ET, FOX, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The Superspeedway showdown marks the second race in the Round of 8 contests, with the penultimate race of the 2025 season at Martinsville Speedway to follow next week.
Frankie Muniz returns to the Truck Series this weekend in the No. 33 Reaume Brothers Racing Ford after a broken wrist from a fall at his home sidelined the 39-year-old back in August. Journeyman driver J.J. Yeley makes a return to the series, making his debut with Spire Motorsports in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
Everything that makes Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin drove him from midpack on the final restart of Sunday’s South Point 400 to a historic triumph at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his milestone 60th NASCAR Cup Series win.
The layers associated with this victory are unlike any other he’s earned previously. This one propels him into a tie with Kevin Harvick for the 10th-most wins in Cup history, a mark Hamlin has been not just conscious of but vocally targeting for years. He entered the season with 54 victories to his credit. And with this series-best sixth win of 2025, Hamlin is the first driver to secure his place in the Championship 4. He will lead the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team to Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2 for Hamlin’s first chance in the title race since 2021.
Factor in health issues for his 75-year-old father, Dennis, and the emotion poured out, leading to tears both in the car and during Hamlin’s post-race interview.
“I don’t know if I could have scripted it better,” Hamlin told reporters in the media center. “I talked about it before the weekend started, just how important this race was, right? I thought this was the most important. All of it. My friends all weekend (said), ‘We’re getting 60 this weekend.’ … All the factors, I can’t imagine there’s a win bigger for me than this one. With the family, with the significance of it, now being back on top for most wins in the season, punching the ticket to the (Championship) 4, all of it. The fashion in which the last 10 laps played out. All of the above is why I think this means the most.”
Hamlin has won big races before — three Daytona 500s, three Southern 500s at Darlington and one Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, to name a few. But this win serves as tangible proof that Hamlin continues to make history at age 44, now statistically one of the sport’s most elite drivers ever and finding sustained success at a stage of his career that seems improbable. That’s why win No. 60 always meant so much — and why the moment lived up to his dreams.
“I mean, what you saw, that was going on for the last three laps,” Hamlin said of the tears shed. “I did say a prayer into (Turn) 3 with two to go for no caution. I try not to ask for prayers for things that really don’t matter, like competition. I needed to see this one through all the way. So I asked for a favor on this one.”
That kind of emotion from Hamlin, though? The same guy who taunts the crowd by reminding them he beat their favorite driver and thrives when rained upon by boos?
“I’m probably softer than what I put off,” Hamlin said. “I maybe shed a tear during a love story on a movie or something if it’s a really emotional moment. I’ll never let my kids see it. But I do have feelings. I know it’s hard to believe.”
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Hamlin has been competing in the Cup Series since late 2005, his first full campaign coming in 2006. His rookie year coincided with the season Jimmie Johnson earned his first Cup Series championship, one of a record-tying seven. Johnson, now the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, was in Victory Lane on Sunday, looking on as Hamlin celebrated the most significant triumph of Hamlin’s career to date.
“I think he’s at 21 years of doing this. To still be winning races, competing for championships, I mean, that says a lot about him, a lot about the team,” Johnson told NASCAR.com. “I know those monumental, kind of odometer moments, milestones, when you click over, it always made them so real and deep. So with his quest to chase the championship, the 60th win, berth to the playoffs, he’s got to be glowing inside. And I think he’ll look back on the 60th in a deep way. We’ll find out more when we leave Phoenix, but this could be the start of something really big for him.”
In one way, Vegas does mark the beginning of something new for Hamlin — a renewed and re-energized fight for the championship that has eluded him forever. But Vegas is also the continuation of a long, arduous journey that Hamlin has fought to achieve for his entire life.
He knew exactly what he wanted from a young age. At age 8, Hamlin wrote a letter stating he wished to win the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 1998. He had to wait until 2016 instead, but indeed he won the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. He did it again on Feb. 18, 2020. But it took years of sacrifice from Hamlin’s parents, Dennis and Mary Lou, to make their son’s racing career happen. And with Dennis “not doing well,” Hamlin said, Denny’s father’s contributions have been top of mind.
The two hadn’t spoken after the race before Hamlin made his way to the media center post-race, with Hamlin more eager for an in-person conversation than one over the phone. He did, however, offer insight into what he’d like to tell his father when they do speak.
“Just thank him for sacrificing really his and my mom’s life to chase around my dreams,” Hamlin said. “My parents had no money. My parents had very normal jobs, but they found a way. That way is a path I would never recommend anybody taking. Every credit card that comes to the mail, ‘OK, we’ll use it.’ Asking people to help. Second- and third-mortgaging the house. All these things. The arguments I had to listen to. I’m in my room, and my mom and dad are going at it. One is saying, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ The other one saying, ‘Please, just one more week.’
“It’s great it’s all paid off. Certainly, they got the life now that they deserved before I decided to do this.”
Twenty-one seasons of NASCAR Cup Series racing for one team — Joe Gibbs Racing — have brought years of growth to Hamlin. Team owner Joe Gibbs points to the maturing Hamlin has done not just as a race-car driver but as a human being.
“Honestly, I would say that probably one of the biggest changes in a personality is when Denny first came to us,” Gibbs said Sunday. “He was so quiet. You had to try to get him to talk. Today, look at where he is. It’s been so interesting to watch that over the years. I think part of it is maturing. I do think one of the changes, too, is family and everything he’s got going there with (fiancée) Jordan. I think it’s just one of those things where somebody matures, becomes a father, and takes on a huge responsibility, has his own race team, all of that probably causes somebody to actually change their personality. Certainly, I think Denny has gone through one of the biggest changes of almost anyone I know.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
Chris Gabehart, now JGR’s competition director after six seasons atop the pit box for Hamlin and the No. 11 crew, beamed with pride as he stood on the edge of Victory Lane at Las Vegas Sunday. Together, Gabehart and Co. positioned Hamlin to earn 23 of his 60 career races. Chris Gayle, who moved atop the No. 11’s pit box this year, now has six of those 60.
“I can’t help it,” Gabehart said. “I poured six really hard years into that team and Denny Hamlin, and being a part of creating a pedigree that is that. What a huge win.”
In many ways, Gabehart was the conduit to Hamlin’s resurgent success — both while he was on the pit box and after he moved into his new role for 2025.
“I give full credit to Chris Gabehart for putting the team together,” Hamlin said. “He’s really the one that kind of rejuvenated my career five or six years ago (and) took me from a guy that didn’t win a race in 2018 to winning a lot in the next few years, obviously instilling in me a work ethic and a process that allows me to prepare for each weekend. I mean, I finished the (pre-race) drivers’ meeting and hauled ass back to the bus because I was like, there’s one more thing I need to look at that I think I might just have overlooked. Maybe it was the difference. Maybe, maybe not. But I never want to leave any stone unturned. I’ll never compromise knowing when I get in, I’ve done everything I have to do to go win.”
Much of that was evident in his drive to the front of the field late in Sunday’s thriller at Las Vegas. A crash by William Byron and Ty Dillon with just more than 30 laps remaining created different pit-strategy plays. Hamlin stopped for four tires and fuel, but others, such as Chase Briscoe and Joey Logano, took just two right-side tires instead. After another crash on the ensuing restart, Hamlin was left in sixth place for the final dash to the checkered flag. He quickly roared to third place, and in a fierce battle with Kyle Larson, Hamlin got the edge and cleared him for second to set his sights on Briscoe for the race lead. He got it with just a handful of laps remaining to claw past his teammate and lock into the Championship 4.
Hamlin admitted he was worried when JGR made its decision to move Gabehart off his pit box and into a management position. But the belief and trust he placed in the hands of Gibbs, Gabehart and Gayle has produced Hamlin’s winningest season since 2020.
“I really appreciate his leadership,” Hamlin said of Gayle. “He pushes me as hard as Gabehart did. I made it very, very clear to him that, regardless of my accolades or his, he is the leader, and I will respect whatever he tells me to do. I think that’s very, very important as a driver, is to give the reins to your leader, which is your crew chief, comp director, whoever it might be. No one driver is bigger than the team they drive for or the person that leads their team.
“I wanted to make it very clear to him that he has my respect, he has my confidence, and do what you see is fit. Do not be afraid to tell me when you think I need to be fixing something or doing something.”
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
Gayle has witnessed the fruits of that hard labor firsthand, and now he has a half-dozen wins and a Championship 4 berth to prove it.
And while Gayle may be new to Hamlin, but those at JGR and Toyota have witnessed Hamlin’s rise from a budding Cup racer with potential to become one of the best NASCAR has ever seen.
“I think what people don’t appreciate (is) Denny works really hard,” JGR president Dave Alpern told NASCAR.com. “He’s not only a student of the sport, as evidenced by his podcast, and when you’re in a driver meeting and you hear him. He just really, really works hard. He’s in the simulator. He just works at it. He deserves it. He earned it.”
Hamlin has been to the Championship 4 four times previously, coming up short each time so far. His most painful title loss, though, was in 2010, before the elimination-style format was introduced and when he finished runner-up to Johnson, who won his fifth straight championship.
Tyler Gibbs, president of Toyota Racing Development USA, has worked for the manufacturer since 1996, long before Hamlin started driving Camrys in the 2008 season and even before the automaker’s entry into the NASCAR world. Now, Hamlin stands alone as Toyota’s winningest driver with 57 Cup Series victories to his credit. Gibbs believes the No. 11 is finally due.
“He’s had other opportunities to win the championship,” Gibbs told NASCAR.com. “It feels like he’s more ready than he’s ever been to win the championship.”
As the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 commenced Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, some drivers hit it big in Sin City, while others have significant work ahead of them to clinch a Championship 4 spot.
A trip to Talladega Superspeedway is up next on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but before heading to Alabama, let’s take a look at where things stand in the race for the Bill France Cup after a thriller in Las Vegas.
WINNER
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Sunday’s victory at Las Vegas meant a little extra for the future Hall of Famer. Choosing to take four tires in his final pit stop on a great call by crew chief Chris Gayle, Hamlin secured his first Championship 4 berth since 2021 in style, passing teammate Chase Briscoe with four laps to go to earn the 60th victory of his Cup Series career. Wiping tears away, Hamlin dedicated the pole-to-victory triumph to his father, Dennis, back at home.
Now locked into the Championship 4 at Phoenix, Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gayle will have a two-week head start to prepare as the 44-year-old pursues his elusive first title.
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Despite falling short of the win, the 2021 series champion turned in one of his most complete performances since his latest victory in May at Kansas Speedway. Larson led four times for 129 laps, won Stage 2 and banked 54 points as he finished second, tying Hamlin for the most Sunday evening. He’s finished in the top 10 his last four races, making it back-to-back runner-up efforts after falling short to Shane van Gisbergen last weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Yung Money is heating up at the right time, and now has a 35-point cushion above the elimination line headed to Talladega, where he finished second in the spring.
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Finishing third for the third consecutive week, Bell couldn’t quite avenge his defeat in this race last year. He earned 43 points, thrusting himself from four points below the cutline to 20 points above, capitalizing on mistakes from other playoff competitors. It’s the third time in a row that Bell has finished on the podium in the Las Vegas playoff race, giving the 30-year-old a bit of breathing room ahead of Talladega.
WHO’S NOT?
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford. The 2023 champion’s Las Vegas race went awry in Stage 1, suffering a left-front tire issue at Lap 72 from the 12th position. He pounded the Turn 4 outside wall, limping his battered machine back to pit road before his team determined that he could no longer continue, resulting in a last-place finish. Including Saturday sessions, it’s the third trip to Las Vegas in a row that Blaney has crashed, but this time it’s more costly with playoff implications. He sits minus-31 to the cutline, potentially backing the 31-year-old into a must-win situation at Talladega or Martinsville.
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Hopes of a Las Vegas victory were pried away from Byron with 30 laps to go as he ran into the pitting car of Ty Dillon while running second. The contact ripped the right front of Byron’s car apart, resulting in a 36th-place finish as he couldn’t continue. He led three times for 55 laps before the incident and had just surrendered the lead to teammate Larson. Despite earning 18 stage points, including a Stage 1 win, Byron drops to 15 points below the elimination line ahead of Talladega, but his back-to-back Daytona 500 wins prove he could be a factor next weekend in Alabama.
BUBBLE WATCH
Rank
Driver
+/-
1
Denny Hamlin
ADV
2
Kyle Larson
+35
3
Christopher Bell
+20
4
Chase Briscoe
+15
CUTLINE
5
William Byron
-15
6
Chase Elliott
-23
7
Joey Logano
-24
8
Ryan Blaney
-31
NASCAR INSIGHTS
Finishing 18th on Sunday at Las Vegas, issues on pit road were costly for Chase Elliott. According to NASCAR Insights, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team had the 28th-best pit crew in Sin City, headlined by an uncontrolled tire penalty at Lap 121. Elliott had to serve a pass-through penalty under green, and while he got back on the lead lap, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native could never return to the winning mix. Conversely, Joey Logano had the 26th-best pit crew on Sunday, but a late two-tire call from crew chief Paul Wolfe got the No. 22 team up to sixth after 267 laps.
QUOTABLE
“It definitely means a lot. This is the point where I kind of give the fans some [expletive], but not today. I appreciate all of you so much. 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 … if you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said no. Just super proud of this team for making the adjustments they did.” — Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, on winning his 60th career race to clinch a Championship 4 spot.
NEXT RACE
For the first time, Talladega Superspeedway’s fall date slides into the Round of 8, creating even more unpredictability with just three races remaining in the 2025 season. Talladega offers an opportunity for any playoff driver to turn their Round of 8 fortunes around. Keep an eye out for Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney: Logano led 24 laps in the spring race before a disqualification derailed a top five, while Blaney won this race in 2023. Teammate Austin Cindric wound up winning in April, further evidencing that Team Penske is the likely organization to beat.
LAS VEGAS — When Chase Briscoe left the Cup Series field in the dust during the opening stint of Sunday’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he thought it was going to be a repeat of August’s Southern 500. Ultimately, it was a gamble made by No. 19 crew chief James Small that dictated the outcome.
Briscoe passed Denny Hamlin on the opening lap and led the opening 35 circuits of the race before hitting pit road during the first cycle of green-flag pit stops. With the No. 19 team having a mediocre 13.6-second pit stop, Briscoe fell to third in the running order at the conclusion of the stage.
“The first run of the day, I was like, ‘my gosh, we’re going to murder them,’” Briscoe thought. “My car was unbelievable. We had that bad pit stop and lost control of the race and could never get the balance back to what it was.”
Throughout the race, Briscoe hovered around the top five, finishing fifth in Stage 2. But after bouncing off the backstretch wall on a restart during the final stage, he sank to eighth in the running order. But at a Lap 232 caution involving frontrunner William Byron and Ty Dillon, No. 19 crew chief James Small had a crucial decision to make. He was among four crew chiefs to gamble on taking two tires — along with fellow playoff contender Joey Logano — to get Briscoe track position.
The risk was worth the reward for the No. 19 team, already banking 14 stage points on the afternoon. But the danger was high, should Briscoe fall into the clutches of the rest of the field on four fresh tires.
“It could have ended up really bad,” Small stated. “I think the key with what we’ve seen before, the car on two tires that can get the lead can hang on. If you don’t, you’re going backwards in a hurry. Thankfully, it was still a giant gain from where we were.”
With another multicar pileup on the following restart, Briscoe gained a buffer with the drivers on four fresh tires having fewer laps to hunt down the No. 19 car. The final restart waved with 14 laps remaining, with four of the top five drivers on fresher tires. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, both on four fresh Goodyear tires, made quick work of Joey Logano and Alex Bowman, putting them in prime position to hunt Briscoe down.
When Hamlin cleared Larson, he hurried to the back bumper of Briscoe. The No. 19 car began losing considerable pace in the waning laps, as Hamlin took the lead coming to four laps remaining. Larson followed through, as did Christopher Bell.
Briscoe earned a fourth-place finish, his 14th top-five finish of the 2025 season.
“Wish it was [five] laps shorter or whatever it was,” Briscoe added. “I was so loose at the end; I had nothing left. That was all I had.
“I was so loose all day long if I ran the top. I was already that loose running the bottom, I was scared to death to go up there. With them having new tires, I felt like if I gave them the bottom, they would drive right by me anyway. I was trying to air block as much as I could.”
The venture to take two tires ultimately netted Briscoe an additional point or two, he believes. On sheer speed, he thought the No. 19 team should have placed around fifth.
“It could have been a lot worse, and we’re on the upside of points, which is something not to be mad about,” Briscoe said.
With two races remaining in the Round of 8, Briscoe sits above the cutline with a 15-point buffer over Byron for the final provisional Championship 4 spot. Next up is a trip to Talladega Superspeedway next Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where Briscoe finished 15th in April.
Denny Hamlin became the 11th driver to reach the 60-win mark in the NASCAR Cup Series, prevailing Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a win that secured his spot in the Championship 4.
The victory, his sixth of the season, pulls Hamlin into a tie on the Cup Series all-time win list with Kevin Harvick, who retired after the 2023 campaign. He led just nine laps on Sunday, but completed a full bookend as he started the 267-lap event from the pole.
Hamlin has mentioned his goal of reaching the 60-win plateau multiple times as the season progressed and his win total grew. After his victory at Dover Motor Speedway in July, Hamlin indicated that he placed more value on accumulating wins than on chasing a Cup Series championship — an achievement that has eluded him so far in his 20-year Cup career.
“If we do, we do. If we don’t, we don’t. I care about wins,” Hamlin said. “Trust me, I want more trophies, more trophies, more trophies. When I’m done, I want to be in the top 10 of all-time winners. That will mean more than any other accomplishment I could have.”
That said, he’ll have at least one more opportunity to compete for a championship. His win at Las Vegas secured his fifth Championship 4 berth and first since the 2021 season. Unlike other years, he and crew chief Chris Gayle receive a two-week head start at preparing for the Nov. 2 finale at Phoenix Raceway. After all, the driver to win the opening Round of 8 race has gone on to win the championship in five of the last nine years.
Hamlin has reached all of his career milestones while driving the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing, the team that brought him to NASCAR’s top division in 2006, when he won Rookie of the Year honors. JGR signed Hamlin to a two-year contract extension on July 25, all but ensuring that he will finish out his career with the organization.
Of the nine drivers ahead of Hamlin on the Cup Series’ all-time win list, eight are in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The only exception is former JGR teammate Kyle Busch, who is just ahead of him with 63 career wins, but remains active in the Cup Series and ineligible for Hall of Fame nomination.
LAS VEGAS — Denny Hamlin scored an emotional victory and claimed a significant career milestone with a dramatic NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 win in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hamlin passed two cars in the final 10 laps, ultimately taking the lead from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe with four laps remaining and then holding off the day’s most dominant driver, Kyle Larson, by 1.533 seconds to claim a series-best sixth win of the season and 60th of his Cup career.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos
The win secures the first of four positions for the Nov. 2 Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway — landing Hamlin his first title shot since 2021.
Hamlin was notably moved in the moments after climbing out of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Instead of the typical playful banter the veteran normally delivers to the crowd after a win, the 44-year-old Virginian spoke more solemnly, mentioning his father Dennis, who has been ill.
“This win means a lot, this is the point where I kind of give the fans some [expletive], but not today, I appreciate you all so much,” said Hamlin, his eyes water-filled as he looked toward the crowded grandstands.
“Obviously, just want to say ‘hi’ to my dad and family back at home,” Hamlin added, his voice cracking with emotion. “We were hoping to get 60 [wins] today, but didn’t think we were. Just put the pedal down those last 10 laps and made it happen.”
A critical pit-stop during the race’s late running proved all the difference, with four fresh tires the winning hand.
“[Crew chief] Chris [Gayle] did an amazing job on that final stop, getting the car just right, and I just held it down,” Hamlin said. “That’s all I could do, just go for it. I felt like I had nothing to lose, just go for it and try to punch a ticket now, and it feels great.
“Just super proud of the team for making all the adjustments they did and the pit crew for doing a great job all day.”
It marked the eighth time Hamlin and fellow playoff contender Larson have finished in some combination of first and second place. Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the class of the field for most of the day — leading a race high 129 of the 267 laps — but just unable to hold off Hamlin’s pole-winning Toyota heading to the checkered flag.
Logan Riely | Getty Images
“I thought we did everything that we could do,” said Larson, who now holds a 35-point advantage above the cutline. “The Toyotas were really fast for the short-run there. I saw the No. 11 (Hamlin) line up behind me, and I knew he’d be difficult to hold off. If any one of the Toyotas got clear and could get rolling, I knew it would be tough.
“He did a great job, though. He still had to make the right moves, which he did. I felt like I was doing all I could to stay in front of him, while also trying to track down the No. 19 (Briscoe). We just came up a little bit short, but overall, it was a great day for the No. 5 Chevrolet team.”
Larson, like Hamlin, took four tires on the final pit stop and lined up on the second row for the final restart with 14 laps remaining. Hamlin’s teammate Briscoe was out front, benefitting from a two-tire call that gave him better track position.
Hamlin restarted fifth and made his way forward, passing Larson with five laps remaining and then getting around his teammate Briscoe with four laps remaining. Larson and then Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell also got around Briscoe in the closing laps.
It marked the 15th time this year that Toyota had four of a race’s top-five finishing drivers. The effort gives Bell a 20-point advantage to the good in third place; Briscoe holds a 15-point edge.
“I was hanging on, but I thought I was in a really good spot there for that last three or four laps on that restart,” said Briscoe, who finished fourth. “My car drove really good, and as I ran, I was just absolutely sideways. Thought there for a while when they [Larson and Hamlin] were racing hard I’d be able to sneak one off, but just really, really loose there at the end. At least a JGR car won, but that’s going to sting for a while.”
While Briscoe didn’t win, his top-five finish certainly helped his playoff chances, too. Four of the top-six finishers — Hamlin, Larson, Bell and Briscoe — are among the current field of eight title hopefuls competing for a Championship 4 appearance with two races remaining in this penultimate round — next week at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and the following week at the half-mile Martinsville Speedway.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano, reigning series champion and current playoff driver, also gambled on a two-tire stop on that last caution period and managed a sixth-place finish. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was 18th, rallying from an early race pit miscue and penalty.
Elliott’s teammate, 2025 Regular Season Champion and Daytona 500 winner William Byron, finished 36th after a bizarre late-race collision when his No. 24 Chevrolet car slammed into the back of the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Ty Dillon, who pulled down to pit, although Byron, running at full speed, said he had absolutely no signal of Dillon’s intention.
The incident cost Byron dearly in the standings, dropping him to 15 points below the cutoff line, followed by Elliott (minus-23), Logano (minus-24) and Ryan Blaney (minus-31).
As with Byron, who won Stage 1 and led 55 laps Sunday, Penske’s Blaney — the 2023 series champion — also had a tough outing, finishing last in the 38-car field and dropping from second in the points to eighth.
Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford had a tire incident late in the opening stage and slammed into the wall only 70 laps into the contest.
Blaney’s disappointment after getting out of his car was palpable. He’s finished 32nd or worse in the last three Las Vegas races. The upside for him, however, is that he has three wins at Talladega Superspeedway and has won the last two Martinsville Playoff races.
“I’m not very happy right now, but tomorrow morning I’ll be optimistic to go to the next race,” Blaney said. “We’ve had good success at the next two events, so hopefully we can come and bring the speed and try to overcome the hole we put ourselves in today.”
23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick was the lone non-playoff driver among the top five Sunday, finishing fifth. Hendrick’s Alex Bowman, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-10.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the Talladega Superspeedway high banks next Sunday for the Yellawood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the defending race winner.
NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Hamlin as the race winner. The No. 6 RFK Racing Ford, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota and No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for engine dyno only.
LAS VEGAS — William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team were back in midseason form during Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
After taking command of a race for the first time in the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs, Byron won Stage 1 and led 55 laps total during his entire Sunday stint. And while Kyle Larson dominated Stage 2 and was ahead of Byron going into the final cycle of green-flag pit stops, Byron leapfrogged Larson in the running order and was in control of the race in the sprint to the finish after pitting one lap earlier than the No. 5 car.
Byron’s race began to unravel when he wiggled through Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 232, losing the lead to Larson. Five laps later, Ty Dillon was called to pit road, north of 25 laps after the cycle of stops began. Byron didn’t get the message that the No. 10 car was dropping to pit road and plowed into the rear of Dillon.
Just like that, Byron’s race was over, finishing 36th and tallying 19 points.
“If I would have known or had any indication, I would have hedged higher and I just ran full speed into the back of him,” a disappointed Byron said. “That was a huge impact. I’m fine, I just had no indication. Even as [Dillon] was coming off the bottom, I thought he missed the bottom a little bit, and by the time he started slowing down, I was in the back of him.”
Dillon was informed that his spotter, Joseph White, motioned to Byron’s spotter, Brandon Lines, that he was pitting. Dillon said he called off Byron going down the backstretch, though Byron never saw a hand wave out the window or a directional shift of the No. 10 car.
“That’s how we’ve operated all year — the spotter will let him know,” Dillon said. “Some people stick their hands out, and I do sometimes to let people know if I’m racing hard with somebody, but I feel like William — the part that I wave out is down the backstretch, William is so far back then that I don’t know if he could see or if I didn’t get it out far enough.
“Usually, I rely on the spotter to let everybody know, and my spotter said he let the 24 spotter know. I don’t know if it’s a lack of information getting relayed, but that’s a quick amount of time for that to happen. I don’t think I did anything egregious getting on pit road. I hate it for them and hate that it took him out. He was lining up to have a really good day, but I don’t know who that is on or if I could do much different there.”
Byron said he will stew for a few hours before checking his in-car camera to see if Dillon signaled that he was pitting. His mindset doesn’t shift, believing he will need to win at either Talladega Superspeedway or Martinsville Speedway to make the Championship 4 for the third consecutive season.
“I’m just bummed out,” Byron said of his emotions. “You know that these opportunities are few, and we had a really good car today, in contention to win. Everything has to go right in the Round of 8, and that’s something major that went wrong that was out of our control.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 car, was still dejected more than half an hour after Byron wrecked out. Even still, he was pleased with the performance.
“We answered all the questions that everybody was waiting for us to answer,” an upset Fugle said. “We had a top-two car, probably the best car that could compete in traffic and do all the things. That’s what we’re looking to do. It’s tough to take having a great car and not [finishing] well.”
Entering the middle race in the Round of 8 at Talladega Superspeedway (Sun., 2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Byron is 15 points under, the first driver outside of the four-driver cutoff. The Round of 8 will conclude following Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 26, with the title bout held Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway.
Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, exited Sunday’s Round of 8 playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway early after a tire issue toward the end of Stage 1.
Entering Turn 3 on Lap 72, Blaney went straight through the corner, his car never turning as his left-front tire appeared to go flat. He suffered heavy right-side damage, immediately radioing to his team, “Everything is [expletive] broken. Everything is [expletive] broken on it.”
Blaney limped his No. 12 Team Penske Ford to pit road, where he stopped in his stall and immediately exited. His team was unable to repair the No. 12 Team Penske Ford and Blaney will be credited with a 38th-place finish to start the penultimate round of the postseason.
“Blew as I lifted into [Turn 3],” Blaney said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center, explaining that he had no indication of a tire issue. “Destroyed right-front, right-rear. Destroyed everything.”
A three-time winner this season, Blaney clinched his spot in the semifinal round with a Sept. 21 win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Sunday marked his third consecutive Las Vegas race with wall contact as practice crashes both last fall and this spring relegated him to the rear at the start.
With Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway up next, the 31-year-old’s title hopes are in peril as he plummets 31 points below the Cup Series Playoffs elimination line. But Blaney has come from behind before, as each of his last two Championship 4 appearances came via walk-off wins at Martinsville in the Round of 8 finale. Asked if this incident immediately placed him in must-win territory, Blaney said: “Yeah. No doubt.”
“I’m not very happy right now, but tomorrow morning, I’ll be optimistic to go to the next race,” Blaney said. “We’ve had good success at the next two events. Hopefully, we can come bring the speed and try to overcome the hole we put ourselves into today.”
LAS VEGAS — Ryan Blaney has had a string of bad luck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, typically reserved for the casinos.
But with postseason stakes higher than ever in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Blaney is back at the table and hoping he has the right cards in hand for Sunday’s South Point 400 (5:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Vegas puns aside, Blaney’s recent history at the 1.5-mile track has been abysmal. The 2023 Cup Series champion crashed during practice for each of the last two Vegas races, starting in a backup car, then incurring damage during the race. Saturday seemed to be a turn of his fortune, escaping with a clean practice and qualifying session that set his No. 12 Team Penske Ford 14th on the starting grid.
What led to his prior mishaps was, in part, low tire pressure; an intentional setup decision to help find speed because cars with looser handling tend to race faster at tracks like Las Vegas. Blaney encouraged his crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, not to back down if it means making the No. 12 Ford fast.
“It’s, what are you willing to push it to?” Blaney said Saturday. “And I’ve never been a big fan of reeling something in. Like, I feel like if you’re trying to get the most out of your stuff and keep working on it and refine it — I mean, you can’t just keep doing the same thing, which we aren’t. So just refining what you think is fast and good.”
Blaney added he felt no hesitation or trepidation returning to the track or climbing inside the race car despite his previous sour luck, resiliently putting any errors in the rearview mirror and looking out the windshield instead.
“I don’t ever try to think of that stuff like being hesitant or anything like that in the back of your mind,” Blaney said. “It’s just some things that happen every now and then. Yeah, they stink when it happens for sure, not only for me, but for everybody, right? We have to get a new car ready, and it’s no fun for anyone. But no, we’ve had good discussions and a good kind of route to go.”
Playing to his benefit is that despite his dismal last two Vegas races, Team Penske or its affiliated team, Wood Brothers Racing, has won each of the past two, with Joey Logano winning in 2024 and Josh Berry scoring his first career Cup win in March. Those notes are excellent to look back on, but there’s one problem: Blaney has limited notes of his own.
“I finished in the fall last year. I was just eight laps down,” Blaney said with a laugh. “But hopefully, we can learn from what Josh had in the spring and build off of what we learned at Kansas. I thought we were decent at Kansas. I didn’t think we were the best. I thought we were kind of seventh-, eighth-place car at Kansas behind some Toyotas and a couple of Hendrick cars. But hopefully we learned a little bit there and we’re able to apply it for this weekend. So yeah, just relying heavily on previous races here, from our other teammates and then taking what we learned a couple weeks ago to hopefully be where you want to be.”
