Entry List

South Point 400

Sunday, September 26th, 2021

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV

  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota
  • 18 Chevrolet

  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • South Point 400
  • Pole Winner: Kyle Larson
  • Age: 29
  • Team: No. 5 - Tarlton and Son Chevrolet
  • Owner: Hendrick Motorsports
  • Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
  • Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
  • Kyle Larson won the Pole Award for the South Point 400 by having the highest total PMQ.
  • PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
  • 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position.
  • 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
  • 25% of the owner's final race position.
  • 35% of the Owner Points position.

  • Sunday, September 26th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Denny Hamlin Secures Spot in Round of 8 with Las Vegas Win

As he crossed the Las Vegas Motor Speedway finish line to claim the South Point 400 trophy, Denny Hamlin screamed into his team radio, "Viva Las Vegas." And indeed, it was that kind of night for the perennial championship contender, who led a race best 137 of the 267 laps to earn his first Las Vegas victory in 20 starts and take an automatic bid into the next round of the Playoffs.

The 40-year old Virginian edged reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott by .442-seconds. Elliott cut into Hamlin's lead on every one of the closing 10 laps, taking full advantage of traffic, but was ultimately unable to catch Hamlin's No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Hamlin's JGR teammates Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. finished third and fourth with Penske Racing's Ryan Blaney rounding out the Top-5 – all Playoff drivers.

Tyler Reddick, who just missed advancing to this three-race Playoff round by a mere two-points last week, finished sixth after running among the Top-3 for much of the late race laps.

Penske Racing's Brad Keselowski, Chip Ganassi Racing's Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick and regular season champion, Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-10. Keselowski, Harvick and Larson are also championship eligible.

Hamlin led seven different times, won Stage 2 and took the lead for good with 39 laps remaining – facing that challenge from Elliott in the waning laps of a what was a relatively clean race – only one yellow flag outside of the competition caution and two stage breaks.vThe only other caution for an on-track incident came out for a single car accident involving driver Joey Gase, who whose No. 15 Chevrolet lost a tire and made heavy impact with the wall. He was examined in the Infield Care Center but transported to an area hospital for a precautionary exam.

"It feels so good to win in Vegas, last couple times I've been so close but just didn't have the right breaks, but they got the car great and great to hold those guys off," said Hamlin, who earned his 46th career victory and becomes the first driver to officially earn a shot into the Playoff Round of 8.

"I'm so happy to not have to worry about the next two weeks, but I am a professional and I will work just as hard each and every week to win."

Obviously disappointed not to win, Elliott was still enthusiastic about his runner-up finish – his 12th top five of the season – rallying from a pit stop strategy that put him a lap down at one point.

"We were really close, just not quite close enough," Elliott said. "Denny did a really good job controlling the gap to me and he was having a hard time [lapping] with the 21 (Matt DiBenedetto).

"Super close. Really proud of our NAPA team and I feel like we've been performing at a really nice level the last three or four weeks, just haven't had great results to show for it.

"Proud of the effort tonight and looking forward to the next two [races]. It's going to be wild."

Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Larson certainly looked like the driver to beat early on. He led 95 laps and won his series best 15th Stage win in the opening portion of the night, but a different pit strategy put him a lap down mid-race and he never fully recovered to challenge for the lead again.

While Hamlin earned the automatic bid into the next round of the Playoffs, Larson still leads the championship standings – 22 points over Kyle Busch.

With his seventh-place finish Keselowski moved into the eighth position in the standings, with races at Talladega, Ala. and the Charlotte ROVAL remaining to determine which eight drivers move on in the championship battle.

Hendrick Motorsports William Byron, who suffered a tire problem late in the race, finished 18th and is now four points below the cutoff line. Even with his Top-10, Harvick remains ninth in the standings – still looking for his first victory of the season.

Hendrick driver Alex Bowman finished 22nd and is 13 points behind Keselowski and Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell finished 25th, two laps down Sunday night fighting through several setbacks. He is 25 points out of that transfer position.

The second race in this Playoff NASCAR Cup Series round is the YellaWood 500 next Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Keselowski won at Talladega this April. Hamlin is the defending Playoff race winner there.

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 267
  • Margin of Victory: 0.442 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 46 Minutes 8 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 144.643
  • Cautions: 4 for 21 laps
  • Lead Changes: 21
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,264 (9.2 passes per green flag lap)

  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • 4th Annual South Point 400
  • Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
  • Age: 40
  • Team : No. 11 - FedEx Office Toyota
  • Owner: Coy Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Christopher Gabehart
  • Denny Hamlin won the 4th Annual South Point 400, his 46th victory in 573 Cup Series races.
  • This is his second victory and 21st top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his first victory and 10th top-10 finish in 21 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Chase Elliott (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 11 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his 18th top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Kyle Busch (third) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 22 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Chase Briscoe (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Kyle Larson leads the point standings by 14 points over Denny Hamlin.
Daniel Suarez walks the grid at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nevada - September 26, 2021 : Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Chevrolet, walks the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Steph ChambersGetty Images
South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Entry List
ENTRY # DRIVER HOMETOWN DOB AGE MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 10 Aric Almirola Tampa, FL Mar 14, 1984 40 Ford Mobil 1 Stewart-Haas Racing Mike Bugarewicz
2 2 Brad Keselowski Auburn Hills, MI Feb 12, 1984 40 Ford Auto Trader Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
3 11 Denny Hamlin Chesterfield, VA Nov 18, 1980 43 Toyota FedEx Office Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
4 66 JJ Yeley Phoenix, AZ Oct 5, 1976 48 Toyota Fat Boy Ice Cream Motorsports Business Management Johnny Roten
5 22 Joey Logano Middleton, CT May 24, 1990 34 Ford Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
6 4 Kevin Harvick Bakersfield, CA Dec 8, 1975 48 Ford Subway Delivery Stewart-Haas Racing Rodney Childers
7 1 Kurt Busch Las Vegas, NV Aug 4, 1978 46 Chevrolet Monster Energy Chip Ganassi Racing Matt McCall
8 18 Kyle Busch Las Vegas, NV May 2, 1985 39 Toyota M&M's Ethel M Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
9 19 Martin Truex Jr Mayetta, NJ Jun 29, 1980 44 Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
10 34 Michael McDowell Phoenix, AZ Dec 21, 1984 39 Ford CarParts.com Front Row Motorsports Drew Blickensderfer
11 6 Ryan Newman South Bend, IN Dec 8, 1977 46 Ford Guaranteed Rate RFK Racing Scott Graves
12 3 Austin Dillon Lewisville, NC Apr 27, 1990 34 Chevrolet BetMGM Richard Childress Racing Justin Alexander
13 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Olive Branch, MS Oct 2, 1987 37 Chevrolet Kroger / Healthy Choice JTG Daugherty Racing Brian Pattie
14 5 Kyle Larson Sacremento, CA Jul 31, 1992 32 Chevrolet Tarlton and Son Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
15 48 Alex Bowman Tuscon, AZ Apr 25, 1993 31 Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Greg Ives
16 12 Ryan Blaney High Point, NC Dec 31, 1993 30 Ford Menards / Knauf Team Penske Todd Gordon
17 7 Corey Lajoie Kannapolis, NC Sep 25, 1991 33 Chevrolet Built Bar Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
18 15 Joey Gase Cedar Rapids, IA Feb 8, 1993 31 Chevrolet NV Donate Life Rick Ware Racing Ken Evans
19 9 Chase Elliott Dawsonville, GA Nov 28, 1995 28 Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
20 21 Matt DiBenedetto Grass Valley, CA Jul 27, 1991 33 Ford Suicide Prevention Lifeline Wood Brothers Racing Jonathan Hassler
21 17 Chris Buescher Prosper, TX Oct 29, 1992 31 Ford Violet Defense RFK Racing Luke Lambert
22 43 Erik Jones Byron, MI May 30, 1996 28 Chevrolet Medallion Bank Richard Petty Motorsports Jerry Baxter
23 78 BJ McLeod Wauchula, FL Nov 17, 1983 40 Ford International Materials Live Fast Motorsports Frank Kerr
24 37 Ryan Preece Berlin, CT Oct 25, 1990 33 Chevrolet Natural Light Vodka JTG Daugherty Racing Trent Owens
25 99 Daniel Suarez Monterrey, Mexico Jan 7, 1992 32 Chevrolet Good Sam Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
26 51 Cody Ware Greensboro, NC Nov 7, 1995 28 Chevrolet Nurtec ODT Petty Ware Racing Mike Hillman Sr
27 42 Ross Chastain Alva, FL Dec 4, 1992 31 Chevrolet Clover Chip Ganassi Racing Phil Surgen
28 23 Bubba Wallace Mobile, AL Oct 8, 1993 31 Toyota Dr Pepper 23XI Racing Bootie Barker
29 24 William Byron Charlotte, NC Nov 29, 1997 26 Chevrolet Axalta / Service King Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
30 41 Cole Custer Ladera Ranch, CA Jan 23, 1998 26 Ford Dixie Vodka Greyhound Cocktail Stewart-Haas Racing Mike Shiplett
31 53 Garrett Smithley Ligonier, PA Apr 27, 1992 32 Chevrolet Red Line Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
32 52 Josh Bilicki Menomonee Falls, WI Jun 3, 1995 29 Ford Byrna.com Rick Ware Racing Jason Houghtaling
33 8 Tyler Reddick Corning, CA Jan 11, 1996 28 Chevrolet Cat Trial 11: Hot Wheels Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
34 00 Quin Houff Weyers Cave, VA Sep 15, 1997 27 Chevrolet Eagle Rock Wealth StarCom Racing George Church
35 77 Justin Haley Winamac, IN Apr 28, 1999 25 Chevrolet Nations Guard Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
36 20 Christopher Bell Norman, OK Dec 16, 1994 29 Toyota Sirius XM Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
37 14 Chase Briscoe Mitchell, IN Dec 15, 1994 29 Ford One Cure Stewart-Haas Racing Johnny Klausmeier
38 38 Anthony Alfredo Ridgefield, CT Mar 1, 1999 25 Ford Dockside Logistics Front Row Motorsports Seth Barbour