Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin battle back from myriad setbacks in playoff race at Las Vegas

Hamlin leaves Sin City fifth in the standings as the first driver below the cut line, 27 points behind fourth-place William Byron. He has quite the hill to climb over the next two races, but he's not out of it yet. 

Larson, meanwhile, has to wonder about the potential of his day had his pit crew not dropped the ball. The normally elite No. 5 crew — which had a big hand in winning Larson his 2021 championship — encountered several mistakes on pit road. 

Debris hitting Larson's grill on lap 86 was the first sign of trouble for the No. 5 team, but it was lap 125 when the hits started to mount. An extremely slow pit stop during a green flag cycle lost Larson crucial time and track position, and things only got worse when it was discovered that his left-rear tire wasn't completely secured.

Larson was able to nurse his car back to pit road, avoiding a postseason vacation for pit crew members and crew chief Cliff Daniels, but the damage was done. Larson fell off the lead lap halfway through the race, and even with a rocket ship underneath him, it was all he could do to try and earn the free pass.

After an intense battle with Ty Gibbs for the free pass position, the pressure got to Gibbs on lap 194, as the second-year driver went spinning off of turn two.

The final yellow flag of the day also put Larson back on the lead lap, allowing him to make up track position over the race's final run. Larson's 11th-place finish seats him third in the standings as the circuit heads to Miami next week, 35 points above the cut line.

As Cup Series veterans and perennial championship contenders, it's no surprise that Larson and Hamlin battled through their respective doses of adversity. If they win the championship, however, Las Vegas can be pointed to as a race where resolve and resilience won out, paving the way for a legendary title run.