Denny Hamlin needed to rally last fall to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
So having to rally again was no problem Sunday, especially with what appeared to be a more dominant car.
Hamlin overcame a speeding penalty to lead 134 of the 267 laps to capture his second consecutive victory at the track and 61st in his career.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Hamlin’s Record Book
The victory put Hamlin in sole possession of 10th on the all-time victory list, as he previously was tied with FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick.
“I feel very fortunate to be on the list,” Hamlin said in his FS1 interview after the race. “Those guys [ahead of me] were far more talented than I have ever thought about being. I just work really hard.
“I still to this day work really hard at my craft to try to continue to get better.”
Hamlin does have talent, but his work ethic is evident by the fact that most drivers seem to fall off after they turn 40. Hamlin is still going strong at age 45.
Denny Hamlin’s win at Vegas marks the 61st of his career.
2. Good Hendrick Day
Hendrick Motorsports put three drivers in the top seven, with Chase Elliott (second), William Byron (third) and Kyle Larson (seventh).
Elliott had the typical reaction of a driver who came close but ran out of time to catch the leader.
“As bummed as I am to come up that close to a win, I have to kind of bring myself back to a reality check [of] how much better we ran today than we’ve been running,” Elliott said in his FS1 interview.
3. But Not-So-Good Rest Of Chevy
Chevrolet debuted a new body style this year, and this race on a traditional 1.5-mile track was supposed to tell something about whether it was an improvement.
It seems like it is OK for Hendrick but not for the rest of the Chevrolets.
Austin Dillon was the best non-Hendrick Chevrolet in 12th. Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez battled for 17th and then argued about it afterward.
The highest non-Hendrick Chevrolet driver in the standings is Spire’s Michael McDowell, who, in 14th, is just five points above the current playoff cutoff.
Driver Michael McDowell is five points above cutline for playoffs.
4. Speedy Briscoe
Chase Briscoe was among the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers who got speeding penalties. Three of the four (Briscoe, Hamlin and Ty Gibbs) got them.
But he had already felt the wrath of going too fast before the race as he admitted he got a speeding ticket.
“Two speeding penalties in one day,” Briscoe said in his FS1 interview. “I got pulled over coming to the race track and then I got a speeding penalty here. … I’ve got to slow it down, apparently.”
4 ½: What’s Next
The Cup Series heads to Darlington, as it continues a stretch of seven consecutive races of tracks that are in the 10-race postseason Chase.
It started with Phoenix and Las Vegas over the last two weeks and then continues with Darlington, Martinsville, Bristol, Kansas and Talladega.
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