NASCAR South Point 400 takeaways: Denny Hamlin surges late to lock up Championship 4 berth

After a couple of late cautions, pole sitter Denny Hamlin made the winning move around Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe with four laps to go to win at Las Vegas and secure his spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix in three weeks.

Here are three takeaways from the Round of 8 opener in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs:

Denny Hamlin notches milestone win at Las Vegas

Some two-tire calls gave Briscoe and Joey Logano the track position after the race's final caution with 28 laps to go, but Hamlin utilized his four fresh tires to run them down and win his 60th Cup Series race to tie him with Kevin Harvick for 10th-most all-time.

Hamlin dedicated his series-leading sixth win of the season to his father, who has been battling some health issues. He was solid the entire race despite only leading nine laps, but it looked like the win would go through the Hendrick Motorsports duo of William Byron and Kyle Larson, who combined to lead 154 of the 267 laps. 

A few late restarts were all that Hamlin needed, though, to insert himself back into the picture and take the pressure off his shoulders for the next two weeks while the rest of the drivers fight for the other three positions that await at Phoenix.

William Byron's strong day ends in disaster

It was no secret coming into the Round of 8 that Byron's playoff run up to this point had been disappointing. The regular-season champion only had a pair of top-10s in the last six races and zero laps led, but claimed the Stage 1 win, paced the field for 55 laps and appeared to be on his way to a long overdue win at LVMS.

That was not meant to be, however, after Byron ran into the back of Ty Dillon at full speed with 31 laps remaining as Dillon tried to make his way to pit road. Byron had just lost the lead to Larson five laps earlier, but scored 18 stage points and was in an excellent position to come out of "Sin City" in a decent points position.

A 36th-place finish puts Byron fifth in the standings, 15 points below the cutline. Although his outlook is much better than Chase Elliott (-23), Joey Logano (-24) and Ryan Blaney (-31), it could have been even better for Byron had it not been for the bizarre situation that played out late on Sunday.

Tire trouble strikes for Ryan Blaney

Tire issues are nothing new for Blaney at Las Vegas after suffering a flat tire in practice multiple times due to low air pressure in recent years. While that was not the case in Saturday's session, he blew a left front tire in turns 3-4 on Lap 72 and ultimately retired from the race in 38th.

As the only playoff driver to qualify outside the top 10, it was not the start to the Round of 8 that Blaney needed after winning the first race in the prior round at New Hampshire. With the remaining eight drivers as competitive as ever, Blaney's back is against the wall with two more chances to make the Championship Four.

He has been in this position before, though, having won the last two cutoff races at Martinsville, including his title-winning campaign in 2023. As a three-time Talladega winner as well, Blaney should not be counted out yet if the last two years are any indication.