Last fall, Denny Hamlin earned a milestone 60th career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, dedicating the win to his father. Since then, Hamlin suffered a bitter defeat in the title race, and lost his ailing father in an off-season house fire.
But on Sunday, he returned to Victory Lane at Vegas for his 61st career win, and his first of the 2026 season.
"I mean, I knew it took a few weeks to feel like driving," said Hamlin, talking about how he had to go back racing after all he went through. "Over the last couple weeks, I definitely regained my love of it, got refocused. These are great opportunities for us.
"I mean, this is a family sport. My family obviously had so much sacrifice to help me get here. Now that I've got three generations of Hamlins following me. It's great Mom gets to see this. I know Dad's still saying, 'that's my boy!' Hell of a day."
Chase Elliott finished second, William Byron third, Christopher Bell fourth, and Ty Gibbs fifth. Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, and Brad Keselowski filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Stage 1
Hamlin took the lead early from Bell, but in the middle of the field, Shane van Gisbergen nearly saw his race come to an abrupt end. He got into Erik Jones and spun sideways, but managed to save the car as he slid down the track.
The rest of the stage ran green, which meant there were green-flag pit stops. Both Allgaier and Briscoe were caught speeding, pushing them off the lead lap. But there were several other drivers a lap down too, as the JGR drivers continued to dominant the early stage of the race.
Bell bested Hamlin as they fought through traffic, and eventually drove away as Hamlin faded. He lapped all the way up to the back of the 21st place car, winning Stage 1 over Larson, Hamlin, Gibbs, Wallace, Byron, Preece, Elliott, Blaney, and Reddick.
Riley Herbst, running 22nd, was granted the free pass to get back onto the lead lap.
Stage 2
During the stage break, the balance of power shifted suddenly from JGR to Hendrick. Both Gibbs and Hamlin were caught speeding, sending them to the rear of the field. That left Bell to fight a trio of Hendrick cars on the restart.
He battled Larson side-by-side before Elliott made it three-wide, nearly leading to contact. Byron then joined the fray, pushing Larson ahead and ending the battle.
Sign us up for more of this four-car battle for the top spot! pic.twitter.com/BZEhXjFNGc
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 15, 2026
Halfway through the stage, there was another round of green-flag pit stop. Both Todd Gilliland and defending race winner Josh Berry got caught speeding, proving costly for the #21 driver.
As the stage progressed, Larson was struggling to put Kyle Busch two laps down and they actually made slight contact as Busch hit the wall. This opened the door for Byron to pass his teammate and steal the stage win.
A frustrated Busch then bumped Larson, entering Turn 3. Back in the pack, Carson Hocevar had to pit with a flat tire and then sped on pit road, compounding issues for the #77 team.
Byron won Stage 2 over Larson, Bell, Wallace, Hamlin, Reddick, Buescher, Preece, Elliott, and Cindric.
Ross Chastain, running 19th, was granted the free pass to get back onto the lead lap.
Stage 3
In the final stage, Hamlin took control of the race, rebounding from an early speeding penalty. He lost the lead to Byron in traffic, and the first (and only) natural caution of the race quickly followed.
Connor Zilisch spun, trying to avoid a slowing Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and damaged the nose of his #88 machine.
"He didn't get the memo."
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 15, 2026
Trouble for Connor Zilisch in Vegas. Here's what happened: pic.twitter.com/VAF3fPNSNw
Blaney and Cindric were caught on pit road, losing all of their track position due to the timing of the yellow.
Bell won the race off pit road, utilizing that No. 1 pit box. Briscoe got the free pass after spending 172 laps off the lead lap, and quickly charged through the field.
On the restart, Hamlin marched forward and took the lead from his teammate, never looking back. Elliott tried his best to close the gap, but he couldn't quite get there.
There was also a post-race confrontation involving Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain, who were teammates at Trackhouse between 2022 and 2025.
Photos from Las Vegas - Race
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RACE
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Pits | Points | Retirement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing |
11 | Toyota | 267 |
2:41'17.051 |
8 | 70 | ||||||
| 2 | C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports |
9 | Chevrolet | 267 |
+0.502 2:41'17.553 |
0.502 | 8 | 40 | |||||
| 3 | W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports |
24 | Chevrolet | 267 |
+3.414 2:41'20.465 |
2.912 | 8 | 49 | |||||
| 4 | C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing |
20 | Toyota | 267 |
+3.787 2:41'20.838 |
0.373 | 8 | 51 | |||||
| 5 | T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing |
54 | Toyota | 267 |
+4.441 2:41'21.492 |
0.654 | 9 | 39 | |||||
| 6 | C. Buescher RFK Racing |
17 | Ford | 267 |
+6.985 2:41'24.036 |
2.544 | 8 | 35 | |||||
| 7 | K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports |
5 | Chevrolet | 267 |
+9.200 2:41'26.251 |
2.215 | 8 | 48 | |||||
| 8 | C. Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing |
19 | Toyota | 267 |
+10.695 2:41'27.746 |
1.495 | 9 | 29 | |||||
| 9 | B. Wallace 23XI Racing |
23 | Toyota | 267 |
+11.821 2:41'28.872 |
1.126 | 8 | 41 | |||||
| 10 | B. Keselowski RFK Racing |
6 | Ford | 267 |
+12.056 2:41'29.107 |
0.235 | 8 | 27 | |||||
| 11 | R. Preece RFK Racing |
60 | Ford | 267 |
+12.652 2:41'29.703 |
0.596 | 8 | 33 | |||||
| 12 | A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing |
3 | Chevrolet | 267 |
+14.753 2:41'31.804 |
2.101 | 8 | 25 | |||||
| 13 | T. Reddick 23XI Racing |
45 | Toyota | 267 |
+15.138 2:41'32.189 |
0.385 | 8 | 30 | |||||
| 14 | Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports |
38 | Ford | 267 |
+15.269 2:41'32.320 |
0.131 | 8 | 23 | |||||
| 15 | J. Logano Team Penske |
22 | Ford | 267 |
+15.723 2:41'32.774 |
0.454 | 8 | 22 | |||||
| 16 | R. Blaney Team Penske |
12 | Ford | 267 |
+20.155 2:41'37.206 |
4.432 | 8 | 23 | |||||
| 17 | R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing |
1 | Chevrolet | 267 |
+21.142 2:41'38.193 |
0.987 | 8 | 20 | |||||
| 18 |  D. Suarez Spire Motorsports |
7 | Chevrolet | 267 |
+21.617 2:41'38.668 |
0.475 | 8 | 19 | |||||
| 19 | A. Cindric Team Penske |
2 | Ford | 267 |
+21.837 2:41'38.888 |
0.220 | 8 | 19 | |||||
| 20 | E. Jones Legacy Motor Club |
43 | Toyota | 267 |
+22.625 2:41'39.676 |
0.788 | 8 | 17 | |||||
| 21 | J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club |
42 | Toyota | 266 |
+1 Lap 2:41'38.631 |
1 Lap | 8 | 16 | |||||
| 22 | C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports |
77 | Chevrolet | 266 |
+1 Lap 2:41'41.213 |
2.582 | 8 | 15 | |||||
| 23 | R. Herbst 23XI Racing |
35 | Toyota | 266 |
+1 Lap 2:41'41.816 |
0.603 | 8 | 14 | |||||
| 24 | A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing |
16 | Chevrolet | 265 |
+2 Laps 2:41'18.552 |
1 Lap | 8 | 13 | |||||
| 25 | J. Allgaier Hendrick Motorsports |
48 | Chevrolet | 265 |
+2 Laps 2:41'29.292 |
10.740 | 9 | ||||||
| 26 | M. McDowell Spire Motorsports |
71 | Chevrolet | 265 |
+2 Laps 2:41'39.407 |
10.115 | 7 | 11 | |||||
| 27 | C. Custer Haas Factory Team |
41 | Chevrolet | 265 |
+2 Laps 2:41'39.999 |
0.592 | 8 | 10 | |||||
| 28 | K. Busch Richard Childress Racing |
8 | Chevrolet | 265 |
+2 Laps 2:41'40.421 |
0.422 | 8 | 9 | |||||
| 29 | R. Stenhouse Jr Hyak Motorsports |
47 | Chevrolet | 265 |
+2 Laps 2:41'42.257 |
1.836 | 7 | 8 | |||||
| 30 | N. Gragson Front Row Motorsports |
4 | Ford | 265 |
+2 Laps 2:41'46.427 |
4.170 | 8 | 7 | |||||
| 31 |
J. Berry Wood Brothers Racing
|
21 | Ford | 264 |
+3 Laps 2:41'21.846 |
1 Lap | 9 | 6 | |||||
| 32 |
C. Zilisch TrackHouse Racing
|
88 | Chevrolet | 264 |
+3 Laps 2:41'23.432 |
1.586 | 9 | 5 | |||||
| 33 | T. Dillon Kaulig Racing |
10 | Chevrolet | 264 |
+3 Laps 2:41'25.468 |
2.036 | 8 | 4 | |||||
| 34 | T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports |
34 | Ford | 264 |
+3 Laps 2:41'46.940 |
21.472 | 8 | 3 | |||||
| 35 | C. Ware Rick Ware Racing |
51 | Chevrolet | 263 |
+4 Laps 2:41'19.044 |
1 Lap | 9 | 2 | |||||
| 36 |  S. van Gisbergen TrackHouse Racing |
97 | Chevrolet | 262 |
+5 Laps 2:41'35.025 |
1 Lap | 11 | 1 | |||||
| View full results | |||||||||||||
