At one point, there were four cars within one second of each other in the closing laps of the NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but unlike Kansas, no one could get around Chase Briscoe this week.
It was also the halfway point of the 2026 Chase, and while Kyle Larson extended his advantage, it was an unusual race for all of the top three drivers in the standings.
Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from NASCAR’s 400-miler in Vegas:
WINNER: Chase Briscoe reignites title hopes with big win (and avoids being thrown off the roof by James Small)
Watch: Briscoe on winning Vegas thriller: ‘What else more could you want?’
Briscoe was gutted after letting the win slip away at Kansas, and he had to be feeling deja vu near the end of the Vegas race. He again held the lead, and Larson was again hounding him for the top spot. But this time, Briscoe held on for a hugely important race win, erasing 39 points out of his deficit. At Kansas, he thought his title hopes were over, but Vegas showed just how quickly things can change. He also saved himself from the wrath of his fiery crew chief James Small, who jokingly remarked: “I was a little worried I was going to have to throw him off this building if he gave that one away after last week.”
LOSER: Denny Hamlin’s strong start spirals out of control
Watch: Hamlin after Vegas: ‘Didn’t live up to what we expected’
What is going on with the No. 11 team? They just keep spinning their wheels after entering the Chase as the title favorites, and Hamlin appeared extremely down after the Vegas race. He started from pole and led the first 40 laps, while title rival Larson went a lap down due to handling woes. It was a massive opportunity, but after the team decided to give up the lead for fresh right-side tires, it was difficult to get back to the front. Hamlin made it up to fourth, but while trying to get more, he spun out just a few laps shy of Stage 1 … and then things just spiraled. He slammed the splitter when the car spun onto the apron and they could never get the balance right after that. He scored no stage points, had a brief loss of fuel pressure, and finished 16th in a race he could have won. The damage could have been worse, but he still fell to -40pts back of the lead.Â
WINNER: Kyle Larson/Cliff Daniels fight back from one lap down in stunning comeback
Watch: Race Rewind: Briscoe prevails in wild Las Vegas finish
Larson drove a great race, but it was crew chief Cliff Daniels who put in a Chad Knaus-esque performance. After Larson dropped outside the top ten in the early laps, Daniels made the bold decision to make aggressive changes inside the right-front under green, losing a lap due to the 26-second pit stop. But it worked, as the No. 5 car finally had some pace and Larson marched back through the field. He only scored a single stage point, but by the end of the race, he was fighting for the win. There was also a lucky escape on the final lap as he crashed into the wall but kept it straight, losing no positions and further extending his points advantage.
LOSER: Christopher Bell’s day derailed by power steering failure
Watch: Bell disappointed with P23 finish at Las Vegas: ‘Done thinking about it’
With Hamlin and Larson facing adversity, Bell was cruising with nine points in Stage 1 and eight in Stage 2. Unfortunately, he started to lose power steering and all attempts to rectify the issue failed. He finished 23rd, and while he remains third, he’s now 55 points adrift of the lead. Of course, Bell was extremely frustrated (and exhausted) after that result.
WINNER: All of Team Penske with a triple top ten
Watch: Cindric ‘close to capable’ of winning, settles for Vegas P4
People were worried about the Penske cars, especially after Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were the lowest-qualifying Chase drivers this past weekend. But they actually had a great race, with Austin Cindric once again leading the charge. Cindric finished fourth, Blaney fifth, and Logano tenth. Both Cindric and Blaney gained ground on the points leader, and Logano only lost four points to Larson. And remember, there are some great tracks coming up for them.
LOSER: Bubba Wallace as possible Vegas win slips away
Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota; Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Photo by: Chris Williams of Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
At this point, the No. 23 just wants to get back to Victory Lane. Wallace was in a great position after the final round of pit stops, but he simply could not get around Briscoe. With 29 laps to go, he made a daring lunge into Turn 1, only to have the door slammed in his face. And as Wallace said later, they ‘paid the price’ for pushing early in the run, as the tires began to cord and he had to limp home in the closing laps, falling all the way down to eighth.
WINNER: Shane van Gisbergen leads non-Chase drivers with T10
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
This was actually a huge surprise. SVG hasn’t placed higher than 20th in the last six races before this weekend, and in Vegas, Trackohuse looked completely lost. Teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch finished 30th and 35th, respectively. However, it was a completely different day for SVG, making daring four-wide passes and finishing ninth as the only non-Chase driver inside the top ten.
LOSER: Ryan Preece falls to last in 2026 Chase standings
Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
Photo by: Jeffrey Vest / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Preece has been the picture of consistency during the Chase, but Vegas was a race he’d like to forget. After a corded tire and a pit stop late in the cycle pushed him off the lead lap, he got trapped near the back of the field. Preece fell two laps down by the end and was last among the Chase drivers, finishing 28th. That result also dropped him to last in the Chase standings with five races to go in the season.
Â
