NASCAR
Denny Hamlin Seals Win Milestone, Championship 4 Berth from Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A showstopper final 15 laps from Las Vegas left its place in NASCAR history. Restarting sixth with 14 laps to go on four fresh tires, Denny Hamlin put together some of the best laps of his career. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver would cap off a long-awaited milestone. Victorious at Las Vegas marks the 60th checkered flag of Hamlin’s Cup tenure, tying him for 10th on the all-time win list. Almost as huge an achievement, Vegas also locks the No. 11 team into the Championship 4. The best driver to never hoist the Bill France Cup now has two extra weeks to prepare for Phoenix Raceway.
William Byron won Stage 1 after taking command through the opening pit sequence. The only stoppage in this opening run saw Ryan Blaney blow a tire and hit the wall on lap 70. This resulted in a last-place result for the 2023 champion, putting him in must-win territory for the next two weeks.
Huge playoff implications on Lap 72! @Blaney has trouble and gets into the wall. pic.twitter.com/MoCg5bEGHx
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 12, 2025
Stage 2 would be won by Kyle Larson, who took over after a squirrely restart between Byron and Chase Briscoe. The hits would only keep coming for the 24, who cycled to the lead over the final green flag pit sequence, much like earlier. What appeared to be a march to victory lane would come to a sudden and scary end however. Byron made heavy contact with a pitting Ty Dillon, rear ending the No. 10 at nearly full speed. Byron was thankfully okay after this hellacious hit.
Big trouble for the No. 24 of @WilliamByron! pic.twitter.com/I2fncPZeWW
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 13, 2025
This major turn of events handed the lead back to Larson, who would be leapfrogged by others taking two tires under a subsequent yellow. Larson still lined up fourth, but Hamlin was just a bit more efficient erasing this lost ground. The 11 retook the lead with four laps left and set sail for his history-making sixth win of the season.
MOVE HAMLIN TO THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/Qq1Wbm75BW
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 13, 2025
“It definitely means a lot,” an emotional Hamlin said. “This is the point where I kind of give the fans some shit, 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.”
“Chris (Gayle, crew chief) 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.”
“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, Jordan 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.”
Larson rebounded to second behind Hamlin, and Christopher Bell was third after getting by Chase Briscoe late. Tyler Reddick led the way for non-Playoff cars as a fourth Toyota in the top-five. The rest of the top-10 were: Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, and Brad Keselowski.
Hamlin has secured a Championship 4 berth for the fifth time in his career and first in the Next Gen era. The remainder of the current Playoff grid can be seen below, with seven drivers left resting uneasy for two weeks.
Cup Playoff standings after @LVMotorSpeedway:#SouthPoint400#NASCARPlayoffs#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/tKfvE2Ox3q
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) October 13, 2025
Talladega Superspeedway lies ahead for those seven contenders not locked into Phoenix, acting as the ultimate wildcard race left standing. The YellaWood 500 will leave its mark of terror on this year’s Playoffs. One lucky driver will be rewarded with a possible career-defining win. The Alabama green flag flies Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Logan Riely/Getty Images
