After waiting the entire regular season to make his first trip to victory lane of 2021, Denny Hamlin finally pulled through in the first race of the NASCAR playoffs to earn an automatic spot in the next round. Four weeks and one round later, he's done it again with a dominant victory in the first race of the round of 12.
After dominating the second half of Sunday night's race and pacing the field throughout a long green flag run, Denny Hamlin was able to hold off a late charge by Chase Elliott to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hamlin's victory was his second of the season, and it advances him to the round of 8.
While much of the last green flag run saw Hamlin receive few challenges for the lead, some late intrigue occurred when Chase Elliott was able to close in to within under half a second of Hamlin within the closing laps. Despite Elliott's surge, Hamlin was able to hold on and comfortably take the checkered flag.
1. #11 - Denny Hamlin
2. #9 - Chase Elliott
3. #18 - Kyle Busch
4. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
5. #12 - Ryan Blaney
6. #8 - Tyler Reddick
7. #2 - Brad Keselowski
8. #1 - Kurt Busch
9. #4 - Kevin Harvick
10. #5 - Kyle Larson
With Hamlin now automatically in the round of 8, he will be able to rest easy in the face of the two biggest wild card races of the playoffs: Talladega Superspeedway is the next race of the round of 12, which then concludes at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
"I am so happy, so happy to not have to worry about the next two weeks," Hamlin told NBC Sports. "But I'm a professional, so I'm gonna work just as hard each and every week to win."
Sunday night's race at Las Vegas was a largely green flag affair, placing a premium on green flag pit strategy and amplifying both good execution and mistakes alike. While Kyle Larson looked dominant throughout much of the first half of the event, an alternate pit strategy near the end of stage two that did not pan out resulted in him losing significant track position, and he was only able to make his way back to 10th at the finish. Other playoff drivers to experience pit road problems included William Byron, Alex Bowman, and Christopher Bell.
The lone accident of the race was a serious one involving Joey Gase on lap 84. Entering turn two, Gase lost the left rear wheel on his Rick Ware Racing No. 15 Chevrolet, sending his car spinning into the outside wall, where it was launched off the ground upon impact. After initially being taken to the infield care center, Gase was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Thanks to their respective issues that caused them to miss out on lead lap finishes, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell ended up in the biggest points hole of the playoff drivers as the Cup Series moves on to Talladega next Sunday.
1. #11 - Denny Hamlin (1 win, advanced to next round)
2. #5 - Kyle Larson (+57)
3. #18 - Kyle Busch (+35)
4. #19 - Martin Truex Jr. (+31)
5. #12 - Ryan Blaney (+24)
6. #9 - Chase Elliott (+22)
7. #22 - Joey Logano (+6)
8. #2 - Brad Keselowski (+4)
9. #24 - William Byron (-4)
10. #4 - Kevin Harvick (-7)
11. #48 - Alex Bowman (-13)
12. #20 - Christopher Bell (-25)
Chase Elliott's late charge comes up short and Denny Hamlin wins the South Point 400. Second win of the season, and it'll ensure him a spot in the Round of 8.
1. #11 - Denny Hamlin
2. #9 - Chase Elliott
3. #18 - Kyle Busch
4. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
5. #12 - Ryan Blaney
6. #8 - Tyler Reddick
7. #2 - Brad Keselowski
8. #1 - Kurt Busch
9. #4 - Kevin Harvick
10. #5 - Kyle Larson
Denny Hamlin runs the wall in Turns 3 and 4 to take Elliott's line away. White flag.
Chase Elliott is closing in quickly. Two to go.
Denny Hamlin had some trouble navigating around the lapped car of Cody Ware, and it's allowed Chase Elliott to close to within seven tenths of a second. Three to go.
Chase Elliott has cut the lead down to nine tenths of a second but isn't pressuring Hamlin. Five to go.
The gap from first to second has remained stable. 10 laps to go.
The pace of this green flag run is such that Denny Hamlin has lapped up to the Top 12 in the field. Matt DiBenedetto is running 12th, and when he gets caught and passed by Hamlin only 11 cars will be on the lead lap.
Denny Hamlin has managed to work lapped traffic well and grow his lead. Almost two seconds over Chase Elliott with 17 to go.
This is the longest green flag run of the day. 84 laps and counting.
25 laps to go. The race for the win looks to be between Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott. Hamlin has about a second on Elliott but has caught lapped traffic.
Joey Logano believes he might have a right rear tire loose, and Kyle Busch believes he's suffered damage after running over debris on the racetrack. Both continue to run within the Top 10.
Austin Dillon has finally come to pit road, cycling Denny Hamlin back to the race lead. Chase Elliott is the new second place car a second and a half back of Hamlin with under 40 laps to go.
1. #11 - Denny Hamlin
2. #9 - Chase Elliott
3. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
4. #18 - Kyle Busch
5. #8 - Tyler Reddick
6. #12 - Ryan Blaney
7. #4 - Kevin Harvick
8. #1 - Kurt Busch
9. #2 - Brad Keselowski
10. #22 - Joey Logano
Austin Dillon is the only driver yet to pit. He has a 13 second lead but is well off the pace of cars on fresh tires and is nearing the end of his fuel window.
