At the end of a charge from third to first in the closing laps, Denny Hamlin drove away to a milestone victory that may serve as one of the most important of his entire career, winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to earn his sixth win of the 2025 season and the 60th win of his Cup Series career. Hamlin’s 60th win ties him with Kevin Harvick for 10th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, and it also secures him a spot in the Championship 4, ensuring him the opportunity to race for the Cup title that has long eluded him in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Sunday’s race, and the complexion of the championship picture, swung dramatically in a sequence of events that began with 32 laps to go. Only a few laps after losing the lead to Kyle Larson on a bobble in turns 1 and 2, William Byron was running second and trying to run Larson back down for the lead, only to be caught completely unaware of the lapped car of Ty Dillon peeling off to come to pit road in front of him. Byron ended up slamming into the back of DIllon’s car at nearly full speed, taking him out in a grinding crash and bringing out the caution.
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Two playoff drivers, Chase Briscoe and Joey Logano, elected to gamble on the ensuing round of pit stops by taking two tires, and a multi-car crash on the restart helped their gambit by creating just a 14-lap run to the finish. But the four tires that Hamlin took would eventually win out: After taking second at the end of several laps battling with Kyle Larson, Hamlin quickly drove down Briscoe and powered around his outside with four laps to go, driving away to earn a win with many different layers to it.
Normally a driver who relishes the role of heel and instigator, Hamlin was noticeably emotional over his team radio and then on the frontstretch after the checkered flag. Emotion which came out, in part, given that his father Dennis has been ill.