The Biggest Winners and Losers From NASCAR’s Las Vegas Chase Race

Chase Briscoe revived his championship hopes, Kyle Larson somehow strengthened his lead on a difficult afternoon and Denny Hamlin wasted the opportunity everyone else had been waiting for.

Las Vegas looked like the weekend when somebody might finally make Kyle Larson pay.

Instead, Larson somehow left with an even larger championship lead.

That makes him one of the strangest winners from Sunday’s race despite finishing second. Larson’s car was terrible at the beginning of the afternoon. A 26-second pit stop for major adjustments dropped him a lap down, and for a while it looked as though Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and the rest of Joe Gibbs Racing had been handed the opportunity they desperately needed. Larson recovered the lap, climbed through the field and ultimately reached Briscoe on the final lap before crashing into the wall while going for the win. Even with the damage, he finished second and expanded his Chase advantage from 26 points to 40.

Nobody gained more, however, than Chase Briscoe. He entered Vegas 123 points behind Larson and desperately needed something close to a maximum-points performance. Briscoe delivered 75 points by sweeping the stages and winning the race, cutting 39 points from his deficit in a single afternoon. He remains 84 behind with five races remaining, which still makes the championship a long shot, but Sunday kept the conversation alive.

Tyler Reddick also deserves credit for turning an afternoon filled with mechanical trouble into a podium finish. Electrical issues forced the No. 45 team to change its battery without losing a lap, and Reddick eventually drove all the way back to third. His 106-point championship deficit is probably too large to realistically overcome, but the recovery itself was one of the strongest drives of the race.

Team Penske had plenty to like as well. Austin Cindric finished fourth for his second consecutive top-four result after taking second at Kansas, while Ryan Blaney charged from 20th to fifth. Joey Logano started 23rd and recovered to finish 10th. That puts all three Penske cars inside the top 10 on an intermediate track and gives the organization momentum heading toward several races that traditionally suit its strengths.

Denny Hamlin belongs firmly on the losing side. This was supposed to be the race where the No. 11 fought back. He started from the pole, had plenty of early speed and watched Larson fall a lap down during Stage 1. Instead of capitalizing, Hamlin lost track position following a questionable two-tire call, then spun while trying to regain those positions. The slide across the apron damaged both the splitter and rear diffuser, and another issue with fuel pressure later in the race compounded the problem. Hamlin finished 16th and now trails Larson by 40 points.

Christopher Bell experienced a different kind of disappointment. The No. 20 was fast enough to score 17 stage points and appeared capable of remaining near the front before his power steering failed. Bell fought the car through the rest of the race and salvaged a 23rd-place finish with 31 points. That damage limitation matters, but his championship deficit still increased to 55.

Bubba Wallace is another driver who will probably replay the final stage in his head. Wallace appeared to have one of the fastest long-run cars and repeatedly closed on Briscoe. From the grandstands, it was obvious that the No. 23 was capable of running the leader down, but Wallace attacked too aggressively during several attempts and used up the tires he needed for the end of the run. The HFTS crew watched the gap shrink before Wallace’s pace eventually disappeared, leaving him eighth.

And then there is Briscoe again. The most impressive part of his afternoon may not have been the 175 laps led. It was surviving the final run after Wallace, Larson and Reddick all had enough speed to make him uncomfortable. Briscoe managed his tires, controlled the lanes and made Larson push beyond the limit to have any chance at taking the win.

Five races remain.

Larson is still the driver everybody has to catch.

At least after Las Vegas, Chase Briscoe reminded everyone he has not stopped chasing.