Three big questions ahead of Bank of America 400 at Charlotte

The NASCAR Cup Series enters the second half of the 10-race Chase with a stop in its backyard for the first fall race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval since 2017 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Here are three big questions ahead of the sixth race of the Chase.

How will Denny Hamlin respond?

Even though his points lead was trimmed from 89 to 25 following the reset, Hamlin entered the Chase as the clear favorite to win his first Cup Series title after a dominant regular season that featured four wins, three of which were consecutive in the summer.

Hamlin has three top-10s in the five Chase races so far, but has lacked the execution and overall pace that he showed earlier this season. That was on display again on Sunday when he lost control on his own in Turn 4 and came away empty-handed with valuable stage points.

It was ultimately a costly result for Hamlin in 16th after he also dealt with fuel pressure issues later in the race. He had won the last two Las Vegas races and started the race from the pole, but he lost ground in the points and now trails Kyle Larson by 40 with five races to go.

After finishing third in the spring, Hamlin has to like his chances heading to Charlotte. That said, he failed to take advantage when Larson had issues of his own in "Sin City," and it is time for him to respond in the title fight.

Can Chase Briscoe carry newfound momentum into late title push?

After a missed opportunity the week before at Kansas, Briscoe responded and held off a late challenge from Bubba Wallace, Larson and Tyler Reddick to win Sunday's race at Las Vegas after sweeping the stages and leading a race-high 135 of the 267 laps.

By virtue of the win and the massive points haul, Briscoe moved up two spots to sixth in the standings and is now 84 points behind Larson. While that is still more than a full race behind, he is still in a position to make a run for his first title if the momentum carries on.

Briscoe did not get the finish he was looking for at Charlotte earlier this season (34th), but he ran inside the top five for most of the night and was in contention. He is also a past winner at Phoenix and Talladega and has been one of the fastest drivers anywhere the series has visited this season, so it is not out of the question that he stays hot and has an outside shot at the title.

Who can avoid mistakes and stay in title contention?

Las Vegas was a race full of mistakes and misfortune for Chase drivers, from Larson losing a lap early on due to a lengthy stop and Reddick's team having to change a battery to Ty Gibbs' speeding penalty and Christopher Bell's power steering issues; it was an eventful day in the sweltering heat.

It is not uncommon for title-eligible drivers to experience issues at this point of the season, but those are simply the mistakes and adversity that teams do not need to face midway through the Chase.

Hamlin (-40), Bell (-55) and Joey Logano (-71) remain within a race of Larson, while Ryan Blaney (-80) and Briscoe (-84) are within 100 points. A title is still possible for each of them, but that is only if the mistakes are limited and they can keep valuable points from slipping away.