Denny Hamlin was too fast Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Literally.
Hamlin overcame a Lap 84 speeding penalty and later beat Chase Elliott in a 50-lap final run Sunday to become the third different winner in the NASCAR Cup Series season, capturing the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who was victorious in Vegas last October in an emotional performance, passed Christopher Bell shortly after a restart and beat Elliott to the checkers by 0.502 seconds for his first 2026 victory and third at Vegas.
The 61st win for the 45-year-old Hamlin broke a tie for 10th place with Kevin Harvick.
He also became the fifth NASCAR driver to win a race in 20 different Cup seasons, joining Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty.
William Byron, Bell and Ty Gibbs followed as JGR put three cars in the top five.
“I knew it took a few weeks to feel like driving, and over the last couple of weeks I’ve definitely regained my love of it and got refocused,” said Hamlin, who was joined on the frontstretch by daughters Taylor and Molly and mother, Mary Lou. “These are great opportunities for us.”
Said his mother as she rushed over to hug him, “That’s my boy, that’s my boy.”
Mary Lou Hamlin received severe injuries in a Dec. 28 house fire in Stanley, N.C., that eventually claimed the life of Hamlin’s father, Dennis.
“This is a family sport, and my family obviously had so much sacrifice to help me get here,” said Hamlin, who led a race-best 134 laps. “It’s great that Mom gets to see us. I know Dad’s still saying, ‘That’s my boy.’
“Hell of a day.”
Starting from his fourth Vegas pole situation, Bell led them to the checkers and began clicking off the laps, with the only anxious moment in the field occurring on Lap 1 when Shane van Gisbergen made a great save off Turn 4 after his car swung sideways.
However, Hamlin snared the top spot from teammate Bell by Lap 4 and paced the way until pit stops began just short of halfway through the 80-lap Stage 1. Bell stayed out two laps later and dropped three spots to Hamlin after pit service cycled around.
Kyle Larson’s No. 5, by far the best of the Chevrolets to that point, came to life toward the end of the stage and finished second to Bell’s Toyota. Fighting a tight handling condition, Hamlin was third followed by Gibbs and Bubba Wallace.
Bad luck hit Hamlin and Gibbs, though, as each was penalized for pit-road infractions, and Larson took the lead by passing Bell.
Following pit work in the middle of Stage 2, Larson emerged with the point and consistently led Bell by a second. Byron, Wallace and Tyler Reddick trailed, but Hamlin worked his No. 11 Toyota to seventh after the earlier penalty.
Byron passed Larson inside the final 10 laps of Stage 2 and earned his first segment win of 2026. Bell, Wallace and Hamlin finished the top five.
Hamlin was in control by over a second, but he was passed by Byron as Connor Zilisch spun on the frontstretch in the race’s first caution for cause on Lap 211 but Hamlin reclaimed the lead two laps after the green flag waved and was ahead the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
