NASCAR delivered an interesting run to the playoffs in Las Vegas.
Joey Logano won Sunday’s South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedwayits third race of the season and second of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Logano automatically advances to Championship 4 with victory. Other drivers in the playoffs, including Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, had numerous issues after all three were involved in an incident on lap 90.
Here are the winners and losers from Sunday’s NASCAR Las Vegas race.
PHOTO OF THE ELIMINAR: NASCAR Playoff Photo: Cup Series Points Standings After Las Vegas
HOW IT HAPPENED: Recap: NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas: Highlights, South Point 400 standings
SUNDAY RESULTS: Who won the NASCAR Cup race in Las Vegas? The winner is Joey Logano and the full results
Winners
William Byron
Byron has been a model of consistency this season, not having many bad days this season. Byron finished fourth in Sunday’s race, his 13th top-five finish and 18th top-10 finish this season. He finds himself above the cut line with two races remaining in the round of 16 and looking for his second Championship 4 appearance in as many seasons.
Dennis Hamlin
Denny Hamlin had an adventurous day on pit road, including a pit stop where the No. 11 team did not fully put the left rear tire on before dropping the jack. Hamlin stopped and backed his car into the pit to safely put the tire on to avoid a penalty. Hamlin overcame the issues and finished eighth, but found himself below the cut line with two races remaining in the round of 16. However, he had success in Homestead-Miami and Martinsville.
Joey Logano
Logano was technically out of the playoffs last weekend. He returned after Alex Bowman’s disqualification at Charlotte and made the most of it, especially with crew chief Paul Wolfe calling for him to stay away and win Sunday’s race thanks to the consumption of fuel. Logano earned his second NASCAR Cup Series playoff victory, and third of the season, to advance to the Championship 4 for the sixth time since the playoff system was instituted in 2014.
Losers
REDDICK’S BIG FLIP: Tyler Reddick flips during NASCAR Las Vegas race, damages Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney
Christopher Bell
It’s hard to call the guy who finished second a “loser”, but Christopher Bell should have won that race. Bell led 156 laps Sunday and made a pit stop with 37 laps remaining. Bell managed to get his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota back to a spot to challenge for the win, but traffic for one lap delayed him and prevented him from winning the race. Simply, a big effort failed for Bell.
Chase Elliott
Elliott had a rough day after getting caught in Reddick’s wreck. Elliott suffered heavy damage to the right side of his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after Reddick hit him in Turn 4. Elliott followed NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy by adhering to the minimum speed, bringing the car to the garage to have it repaired and left. the track. Elliott finished 33rd and is now eighth in the playoff standings, likely needing a win to advance.
Tyler Reddick
Reddick started second and challenged Bell for the lead throughout the first stage. However, he got aggressive early in the second stage and tried to find a gap between Chase Elliott and the turn 4 wall. That gap disappeared quickly. Reddick was pinned against the wall by Elliott, sending Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota 23XI into the infield grass, hitting the paved quarter-mile track and overturning the car near the start-finish line. Reddick finished 36th in Sunday’s race after impressively driving the wrecked car to his pit box.
Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or contact him by email at [email protected].
This article was originally published on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Las Vegas winners and losers: Joey Logano beats Christoper Bell
