Denny Hamlin identifies defining moment of 60th career Cup win at Las Vegas

Denny Hamlin restarted sixth with 15 laps to go in Sunday’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hamlin knew that if he wanted to have any shot at the win, now was the time to go on the offensive.

The defining moment, he said, was with 12 laps to go. He shot through the middle of Turns 3 and 4, making not one, but two passes to go from sixth to fourth and within striking distance of the leaders.

“I thought the defining moment was when I shot the middle of [Alex] Bowman and [Tyler] Reddick and was able to clear Reddick just enough,” Hamlin said on Monday’s Actions Detrimental podcast. “I shot the middle of them, got beside the 48, cleared the 45 and then when we come off the corner since I’m clear of the 45, now I’ve got him pushing me down the straightaway past the 48. It worked out really quickly. That one corner where I got two cars, I thought that was the moment.”

Denny Hamlin made all the right moves at Las Vegas

That one move was the moment where Hamlin’s No. 11 car truly took off. From there, he passed Joey Logano and Kyle Larson before chasing down Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe. Hamlin made the race-winning pass with four to go to secure win No. 60 of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

For much of the race, the playoff drivers raced near each other in the top 10, battling for position. Hamlin found it fun inside his race car, especially that he was able to come out the victor.

“We’re always out there trying to get the cleanest air possible but when you’re in fifth or sixth, there really aren’t any clean lanes. You usually got cars staggered because everyone’s just trying to get out of the wake,” Hamlin said. “And so, that’s why I think the key moment was for me when I shot the middle was that there was nobody in the middle lane at that time. It just was a guess right situation.

“I’m telling you it was fun, really the whole race. The top four or five, other than in Stage 3 where we had that green flag stop and it did get strung out a bit, but I mean we were all just in a bunch at the end of these stages. It was fun because there were a lot of cars that were equal and everyone’s out there just trying to predict. Guys out front are playing defense and nobody’s getting away. So, it was a fun race.”