Play the ball where it lies.
That’s what Denny Hamlin conceded of his competitive philosophy at the midpoint of the 10-race Chase to crown the 2026 champion.
And frankly, that’s advice most of the title challengers could benefit from at this point. Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a prime opportunity for Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney to make a move on Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson atop the Chase standings. But the two-time and reigning series champ instead, extended his points lead.
Hamlin won pole position in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and was looking to equal a historic mark of three consecutive wins at the Vegas 1.5-miler. But after leading laps early, a mid-race spin followed by a mechanical gremlin kept Hamlin from scoring a single stage point and after having to overcome those issues, he finished 16th and lost 14 more points to Larson in the rankings.
He’s now 40 points back heading to the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5-miler for Sunday night’s Bank of America 400 (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
It was indicative of the race vibe for many of the 16 Chase drivers. Ten of them suffered some sort of issue to overcome. And for the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team – which for only the second time in history swept the top four positions on the starting grid – it was a big feast or famine situation.
For all but one of them, it felt a little more “famine”-like as Chase Briscoe performed a master-class in the No. 19 JGR Toyota – winning both stages, leading 175 of the 267 laps and taking the checkered flag by 1.376-second after his two closest competitors in the closing laps – Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who made contact on a last-ditch, last-lap maneuver to try and snatch the victory from Briscoe.
They still finished second and third to Briscoe with fellow title-eligible cars making up 12 of the top 14 finishing positions. The strong effort from Briscoe moved him up two spots in the Chase rankings to sixth place now, but he’s still 84 points off Larson’s title-forward pace.
“It’s still a long way to go.” Briscoe said. “I have a couple of coals in the fire or irons in the fire, but a lot of other guys have way more. I’m definitely still in the mix.
“We’re definitely still in it,” he reiterated. “Larson started 55 [points] back and had a 26-point lead after four [races] and we have five races to go and I’m 84 back, so it’s definitely doable.”
Right now, Larson’s efforts are a little reminiscent of NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart’s incredible run in the 10-race Chase for the 2011 title when he was winless in the regular season then answered with five wins in the Chase en route to hoisting his third title.
Similarly, Larson has won two of the first four races of the Chase and like Stewart in 2011, he snapped a season-long winless streak to do so. Stewart went on to win three of the last four races with six top-10 finishes to close out his third title season. Should Larson parlay his current lead and performance into another title, he’d also have three championships.
Larson has scored top-five finishes through the opening five Chase races but as with so many championship-eligible drivers, he also had to overcome challenges Sunday to keep that streak alive. He went a lap down early following a lengthy early race green flag pit stop – ultimately only scoring a single point in the two stages. But his remarkable drive back through the field may be just what he and his team remember should he earn his third championship.
“We just chipped away at it all race long,” he said, adding, “I just tried to stay patient, but my tires were getting kind of burnt off by the time I got there. I did what I could to try and win.”
After Las Vegas, Larson holds that 40-edge over Hamlin with JGR’s Christopher Bell (-55), Penske’s Joey Logano (-71) and Ryan Blaney (-80) and Briscoe (-84) hold the top six positions and are the only driver within 100 points of Larson.
As the series heads home for this weekend’s full slate of racing at Charlotte, the points situation is compelling and the motivation is palpable. Six of the last seven Charlotte race winners are current Chase drivers.
— NASCAR News Wire —