In his first race again at Las Vegas Motor Speedway since an emotional win in the fall race clinched his Championship 4 berth final season, Denny Hamlin held off a late cost from Chase Elliott to win his second consecutive race in “Sin Metropolis” on Sunday.
Listed here are 4 takeaways from the Pennzoil 400:
Denny Hamlin returns to Victory Lane after difficult offseason
It’s no secret that Hamlin endured an emotional offseason in a court battle with NASCAR and with the lack of his father, Dennis, in a house fire. Along with his household on the observe on Sunday, Hamlin led a race-high 134 laps and held off Elliott by 0.502 seconds to choose up his first win of the season.
Moreover, it’s Hamlin’s third win at Las Vegas and his 61st profession win, shifting forward of Kevin Harvick for tenth on the all-time wins listing. Following a restart with 50 laps remaining, Hamlin cleared pole sitter Christopher Bell on the following lap and by no means surrendered the highest spot the remainder of the way in which.
It was not with no little adversity, although, after a rushing penalty on Lap 84. Regardless of that, Hamlin drove again by way of the sphere and delivered his newest emotional win at Las Vegas.
Hendrick Motorsports exhibits encouraging indicators
Previous to Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, the 2026 season was off to a gradual begin for the HMS group because the Chevrolet camp adjusted to a brand new physique. Whereas Austin Dillon was the very best of the drivers exterior of HMS in twelfth, the Rick Hendrick-owned group might have simply received the race.
Chase Elliott (second) and William Byron (third) put collectively top-five runs, whereas Kyle Larson led the second-most laps (62) and got here away seventh after a prolonged cease to right a tire problem in the course of the race’s remaining warning. The producer remains to be winless this season, however there’s a lot to be happy with after the primary 1.5-mile race of 2026.
Chase Briscoe salvages a prime 10 after early rushing penalty
One other driver who was caught by the rushing police on Sunday is Briscoe, who was too quick throughout his green-flag cease on Lap 33. From there, it was a day of enjoying catch-up for Briscoe, who remained a lap down for the primary half of the race.
It was not till the ultimate warning for rookie Connor Zilisch’s spin that Briscoe returned to the lead lap for the ultimate restart with 50 to go. The pace in his No. 19 Toyota was evident as he charged all the way in which as much as eighth. Nevertheless, for a driver who entered the race 33rd in points with three finishes of thirty sixth or worse within the first 4 races, he might have let one slip away.
RFK Racing leads the Ford brigade
On a day the Group Penske Fords struggled and completed fifteenth or worse, RFK Racing had a constant efficiency throughout. Chris Buescher led the way in which in sixth, adopted by group co-owner Brad Keselowski (tenth) and Ryan Preece in eleventh.
Except for Keselowski’s Twenty eighth-place qualifying effort on Saturday, it was a strong all-around weekend for Buescher and Preece, who took benefit of top-10 beginning spots and ran there for a lot of the day. The group didn’t win, but it surely has to really feel good after a strong displaying throughout the board.
