In his first race back at Las Vegas Motor Speedway since an emotional win in the fall race clinched his Championship Four berth last season, Denny Hamlin held off a late charge from Chase Elliott to win his second consecutive race in “Sin City” on Sunday.
Here are four takeaways from the Pennzoil 400:
Denny Hamlin returns to Victory Lane after challenging offseason
It is no secret that Hamlin endured an emotional offseason in a court battle with NASCAR and with the loss of his father, Dennis, in a house fire. With his family at the track on Sunday, Hamlin led a race-high 134 laps and held off Elliott by 0.502 seconds to pick up his first win of the season.
Furthermore, it is Hamlin’s third win at Las Vegas and his 61st career win, moving ahead of Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time wins list. Following a restart with 50 laps remaining, Hamlin cleared pole sitter Christopher Bell on the next lap and never surrendered the top spot the rest of the way.
It was not without a little adversity, though, after a speeding penalty on Lap 84. Despite that, Hamlin drove back through the field and delivered his latest emotional win at Las Vegas.
Hendrick Motorsports shows encouraging signs
Prior to Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, the 2026 season was off to a slow start for the HMS organization as the Chevrolet camp adjusted to a new body. While Austin Dillon was the best of the drivers outside of HMS in 12th, the Rick Hendrick-owned team could have easily won the race.
Chase Elliott (second) and William Byron (third) put together top-five runs, while Kyle Larson led the second-most laps (62) and came away seventh after a lengthy stop to correct a tire issue during the race’s final caution. The manufacturer is still winless this season, but there is a lot to be pleased with after the first 1.5-mile race of 2026.
Chase Briscoe salvages a top 10 after early speeding penalty
Another driver who was caught by the speeding police on Sunday is Briscoe, who was too fast during his green-flag stop on Lap 33. From there, it was a day of playing catch-up for Briscoe, who remained a lap down for the first half of the race.
It was not until the final caution for rookie Connor Zilisch’s spin that Briscoe returned to the lead lap for the final restart with 50 to go. The speed in his No. 19 Toyota was evident as he charged all the way up to eighth. However, for a driver who entered the race 33rd in points with three finishes of 36th or worse in the first four races, he may have let one slip away.
RFK Racing leads the Ford brigade
On a day the Team Penske Fords struggled and finished 15th or worse, RFK Racing had a consistent performance all around. Chris Buescher led the way in sixth, followed by team co-owner Brad Keselowski (10th) and Ryan Preece in 11th.
Aside from Keselowski’s 28th-place qualifying effort on Saturday, it was a solid all-around weekend for Buescher and Preece, who took advantage of top-10 starting spots and ran there for much of the day. The organization did not win, but it has to feel good after a solid showing across the board.
