NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid After Las Vegas

Denny Hamlin drove inspired over the closing laps of Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and was able to take his No. 11 ampm Toyota to victory lane. With the victory came a lot of emotion. Hamlin's father, Dennis, has been struggling from a health standpoint as of late, and the driver eclipsed the 60 career win milestone that he's been aiming for, a win that means he's now locked into the Championship 4 field.

It was a big day for the 44-year-old, who had the perfect start to the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Sunday afternoon. While Hamlin enjoyed a great afternoon, some other Playoff contenders weren't quite as fortunate.

Ryan Blaney cut a tire and crashed early in the race, and finished dead last. William Byron had an excellent race but was collected in a frightening crash near the end of the race, and Chase Elliott suffered damage in a multi-car crash in the final Stage, which hampered his efforts.

Those three drivers join Joey Logano, who entered the weekend as the final driver on the Playoff Grid, below the cutline as they head into the second race of the Round of 8, the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

And if they don't turn their luck around next weekend, they could find themselves with their backs against the wall in the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway in a couple of weeks.

Here are the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings after the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the 33rd race of the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series season, and opening race of the Round of 8 of the Playoffs.