Chase Briscoe grabbed the lead with 39 laps left and held off points leader Kyle Larson on the final lap to win the South Point 400 at the halfway point of the NASCAR postseason Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver took the lead when Christopher Bell, who had lost power steering, had to pit. Briscoe fought off a hard charge from Larson, who hit the wall off Turn 4, to earn his second 2026 victory by 1.376 seconds in the four-caution race.
Briscoe led a race-high 175 laps in his first Vegas win, as Toyota won its third straight at the 1.5-mile track.
Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney completed the top five in a day when many of the Chase competitors had problems.
On the hottest race day of the season — with temperatures in the upper 90s in the stands and 130 degrees inside the cars — polesitter Denny Hamlin led a Toyota breakaway in the first 35 laps. But Larson pitted on Lap 34, had a 26-second pit stop for an adjustment at the right front and fell one lap down to 32nd.
JGR’s Ty Gibbs was popped for speeding on pit road, while Hamlin’s car reassumed the lead by nearly six seconds over Briscoe. The first caution flew when Zane Smith looped his No. 38 Ford.
Briscoe stayed out for the lead, and Larson was able to get back on the lead lap as Hamlin pitted for two tires. The No. 11 driver then charged to fourth but spun by himself with two laps left in Stage 1, wasting stage points and damaging his splitter.
Briscoe earned the maximum points with the segment win, and Bell, Blaney, Reddick and Cindric filled the top five. However, Reddick and Bubba Wallace received penalties for their pit road service and went to the rear.
The field split again on a debris caution on Lap 94, leaving Briscoe and Bell up front, Hamlin struggling in the low teens and Larson outside the top 20 after pitting for fresh tires and fuel.
Fast last week at Kansas, Cindric led the latter part of Stage 2 but could not hold off Briscoe on his No. 2 Ford’s older tires. Losing power steering, Bell was third followed by Blaney and Wallace.
–Field Level Media
