NASCAR Cup Series: Denny Hamlin takes the checkered flag in Vegas

Catching up here a bit on what happened in the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, with Denny Hamlin, one of our Virginia guys in the series, taking the win in Las Vegas.

That makes it four wins in five weeks for the folks who sued the pants off NASCAR last year, and won.

For Hamlin, it was career win #61, and his first since he lost his father in a fire that also seriously injured his mother in December.

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ICYMI

• North Carolina house fire takes life of father of NASCAR star Denny Hamlin
• Denny Hamlin calls out SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in victory lap on charter suit

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“Ultimately I’m still a competitor, right?” Hamlin told reporters in a presser after the race. “Everyone’s got to go through that process, the grieving process. There were a lot of different things through the offseason that were really, really tough.

“Yeah, I mean, I showed up at Bowman Gray, I ran the race. Still just up until a couple weeks ago, not fully locked in to what I need to do, got to do,” Hamlin said. “That’s just natural. I mean, everyone has to go through stuff. I think for me ultimately, I said it before, promise to Joe Gibbs, that family, that I’d fulfill my obligations to them. Then the thrill of going out there and getting more wins. That, to me, is what drives me. It makes me work as hard as I do at this.”

Hamlin led a race-high 134 laps on Sunday.

The Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of Chase Elliott and William Byron ran second and third, respectively.

Pole winner Christopher Bell was fourth, followed by Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson, who led 62 laps and finished second in both Stage 1 and Stage 2.

Chase Briscoe ran eighth, overcoming a pit road speeding penalty, as did Gibbs, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by Hamlin, came home ninth, and Brad Keselowski was 10th.

Tyler Reddick, the winner of the first three races this season, faded to 13th in the final run but maintained his series lead by 61 points over Wallace, his 23XI Racing teammate, and 67 over third-place Ryan Blaney.

Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube

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Las Vegas Motor Speedway

1. (2)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267.
2. (15)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267.
3. (9)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 267.
4. (1)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 267.
5. (3)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 267.
6. (10)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.
7. (5)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267.
8. (18)  Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 267.
9. (4)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267.
10. (28)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.
11.  (8)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 267.
12. (11)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.
13.  (7)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 267.
14. (12)  Zane Smith, Ford, 267.
15. (21)  Joey Logano, Ford, 267.
16. (6)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267.
17. (17)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267.
18. (13)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267.
19. (31)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 267.
20. (14)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 267.
21. (26)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 266.
22. (19)  Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 266.
23. (20)  Riley Herbst, Toyota, 266.
24. (29)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 265.
25. (22)  Justin Allgaier(i), Chevrolet, 265.
26. (30)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 265.
27. (35)  Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 265.
28. (24)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 265.
29. (23)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 265.
30. (34)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 265.
31. (32)  Josh Berry, Ford, 264.
32. (25)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 264.
33. (36)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 264.
34. (27)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 264.
35. (33)  Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 263.
36. (16)  Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 262.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 148.992 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 41 Mins, 17 Secs.

Margin of Victory: .502 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 20 laps.

Lead Changes: 21 among 9 drivers.