LAS VEGAS (AP) Denny Hamlin became the first driver to lock up a spot in NASCARs championship-deciding finale, winning Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his career-goal 60th Cup Series triumph.
Hamlin, considered the best driver in NASCAR history to never win a Cup title, is back in the winner-take-all title race for the first time since 2021. The winningest driver in Joe Gibbs Racing history is tied for 10th on NASCARs career victories list with Kevin Harvick.
Hamlin, who was emotional two weeks ago about his ailing father when he squandered a victory at Kansas Speedway in the closing laps, dedicated the victory to his father, who also was rooting for his son to hit the 60-win mark. Hamlin seemed to have tears in his eyes when he drove his Toyota to collect his 60th checkered flag.
This win means a lot, said Hamlin, who had to compose himself on the frontstretch. Just put the pedal down on the last 10 laps and made it happen.
Kyle Larson, seeking to end a 20-race losing streak, was second in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. JGR drivers Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe were third and fourth, Tyler Reddick who drives for Hamlin at 23XI Racing was fifth, and reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano was sixth.
Five of the top six only Reddick are still in the playoff field. The others are Chase Elliott, who finished 18th; Daytona 500 winner William Byron was 36th and Ryan Blaney was last in 38th.
Byron was out front and then wiggled out of the groove with 35 laps remaining, saved his Chevrolet from crashing, but teammate Larson sailed past him for the lead. Minutes later he was involved in a race-ending crash when he drilled into the back of Ty Dillon, unaware that Dillon was slowing to head to pit road.
I never saw him wave, I had no indication he was pitting, Byron said. I had zero idea. I am just devastated. Obviously, I wouldnt have driven full-speed into him.
Bad day for Blaney
Ryan Blaney, second in points at the start of the race, saw his title hopes take a severe hit when a tire issue caused him to crash into the wall with nine laps remaining in the first stage.
His race immediately ended, he finished 38th and dropped to the bottom of the eight-driver playoff round. Blaney is the 2023 Cup Series champion, with teammate Joey Logano winning titles in 2022 and 2024 to give Team Penske three straight.
The upside is Blaney races next at Talladega Superspeedway, where hes a three-time winner and considers himself to be in a must-win situation.
Youve got to be optimistic. Im not very happy right now, but tomorrow morning Ill be optimistic to go to the next race, Blaney said. Weve had good success at the next two events, so hopefully we can come and bring the speed and try to overcome the hole we put ourselves in.
Reddicks son
Tyler Reddick, who was eliminated from the playoffs last weekend, is still racing despite serious health complications facing his infant son.
Rookie Reddick, the second son born to Tyler and Alexa Reddick in May, has a tumor thats choking the renal vein & renal artery. Telling the heart Hey Im not getting enough blood pump harder, Alexa Reddick wrote in an update last week. She said it had caused an enlarged heart and the 4-month-old will need a kidney removed because doctors determined it is no longer functioning.
Alexa Reddick posted on social media ahead of Sundays race at Las Vegas that Rookie will have surgery Tuesday and will be moved to a unit to monitor his heart and BP while his renin slowly drops.
Edwards makes his NASCAR debut
Rob Edwards, the longtime team principal of the Andretti Global IndyCar program, made his NASCAR debut this weekend in his new role with the overall ownership group.
Edwards will transition into the role of chief performance officer for TWG Motorsports, the Dan-Towriss led organization that owns teams in NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA, Formula E and will launch the new Cadillac F1 team next season.
Edwards as part of his new role will be part of all of TWGs properties a move he told The Associated Press on Sunday he was excited for as its a new challenge after nearly three decades in IndyCar. He anticipates attending about a half-dozen NASCAR races next year with Spire Motorsports, where Towriss is now the majority owner.
Andretti Global last month named Ron Ruzewski, one of three fired Team Penske executives from an Indianapolis 500 scandal in May, as its new IndyCar team principal.
Up next
NASCAR races next Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the defending race winner. Stehouse is not part of the playoff field.
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AP auto racing:
拉斯维加斯（美联社）——丹尼·哈姆林成为首位锁定NASCAR（纳斯卡）锦标赛决赛席位的车手，他在周日拉斯维加斯赛车场的胜利不仅确保了决赛资格，更实现了个人职业生涯第60次杯赛系列赛夺冠的里程碑目标。
被誉为NASCAR史上最优秀却从未赢得杯赛冠军的车手——德尼·哈姆林（Denny Hamlin），自2021年以来首次重返这场赢家通吃的冠军争夺战。这位乔·吉布斯车队史上胜场最多的车手，目前与凯文·哈维克（Kevin Harvick）并列NASCAR职业生涯胜场数榜单第十位。
两周前在堪萨斯赛道因最后几圈失误痛失胜利时，哈姆林曾因患病的父亲情绪激动。此次他将胜利献给一直支持自己冲击60胜里程碑的父亲。当他驾驶丰田赛车收获第60次方格旗胜利时，眼中似乎闪烁着泪光。
“这场胜利意义重大，”哈姆林在直道上努力平复情绪后说道，“最后十圈全力加速，最终实现了目标。”
凯尔·拉尔森（Kyle Larson）驾驶亨德里克赛车雪佛兰位列第二，正试图终结连续20场不胜的颓势。乔·吉布斯车队（JGR）车手克里斯托弗·贝尔（Christopher Bell）和蔡斯·布里斯科（Chase Briscoe）分列第三、四位，效力于23XI车队丹尼·哈姆林（Denny Hamlin）麾下的泰勒·雷迪克（Tyler Reddick）获得第五，卫冕杯赛冠军乔伊·洛加诺（Joey Logano）排名第六。
前六名选手中仅有雷迪克仍留在季后赛阵营，其余五人中：蔡斯·埃利奥特位列第18名；戴通纳500冠军威廉·拜伦排名第36位，而瑞安·布莱尼则以第38名垫底。
拜伦（Byron）原本处于领先位置，但在剩余35圈时偏离了赛车线。虽然他成功避免了雪佛兰赛车失控，却被队友拉尔森（Larson）趁机超越。几分钟后，由于未察觉泰·狄龙（Ty Dillon）正减速驶向维修区通道，拜伦追尾其赛车导致撞车事故，最终提前退赛。
拜伦表示：“我从未看到他挥手示意，也没有任何迹象表明他要进站。我完全不知情。现在感到非常崩溃。显然，如果知道的话，我绝不会全速撞向他。”
布莱尼的倒霉日
比赛开始时积分排名第二的瑞安·布莱尼（Ryan Blaney）遭遇重大打击：由于轮胎故障，他在第一阶段剩余九圈时撞上护墙，夺冠希望几近破灭。
他的比赛随即告终，最终排名第38位，在八强车手季后赛轮次中垫底。布莱尼是2023年杯赛系列总冠军，其队友乔伊·洛加诺则包揽了2022年与2024年冠军，助力彭斯克车队实现三连冠伟业。
好消息是布莱尼（Blaney）接下来将在塔拉迪加超级赛道（Talladega Superspeedway）参赛——他曾三度在此夺冠，并认为这次必须背水一战。
“人必须保持乐观。虽然我现在情绪低落，但明早我就会振作起来，积极迎接下一场比赛，”布莱尼说道，“我们在接下来的两场赛事中曾取得佳绩，希望这次能延续速度优势，努力扭转当前的被动局面。”
雷迪克之子
尽管幼子面临严重的健康问题，上周末在季后赛中遭淘汰的泰勒·雷迪克（Tyler Reddick）仍坚持参赛。
泰勒·雷迪克和亚历克莎·雷迪克夫妇于五月迎来的次子鲁基·雷迪克，体内有一个肿瘤正\"压迫\"肾静脉和肾动脉。亚历克莎·雷迪克上周在病情更新中写道：\"这相当于向心脏发出\'供血不足\'的信号，迫使它更剧烈搏动\"。她表示该症状已导致婴儿心脏肿大，且由于医生判定其单侧肾脏功能完全丧失，这个四个月大的婴儿将需要接受肾脏切除手术。
亚历克萨·雷迪克在拉斯维加斯周日比赛前于社交媒体发文称，Rookie将于周二接受手术，并转入一个专门病房以"监测其心脏和血压情况，同时等待肾素水平缓慢下降"。
爱德华兹首次亮相NASCAR赛场
安德雷蒂全球印地赛车项目的长期领队罗布·爱德华兹（Rob Edwards）本周末以全新身份——整体所有权集团成员——完成了他的纳斯卡首秀。
爱德华兹将转任TWG赛车运动公司的首席性能官。该机构由丹-托里斯领导，旗下拥有纳斯卡、印地赛车、IMSA和电动方程式车队，并将在下赛季推出全新的凯迪拉克F1车队。
作为新角色的一部分，爱德华兹将参与TWG旗下所有业务。他在周日对美联社表示，在印地赛车领域深耕近三十年后，这一新挑战令他倍感振奋。他预计明年将代表Spire Motorsports参加约六场NASCAR赛事，该车队目前由托里斯控股。
安德雷蒂全球上月任命罗恩·鲁泽夫斯基（Ron Ruzewski）为其印地赛车车队新任领队。鲁泽夫斯基是五月份印第安纳波利斯500赛事丑闻中遭解雇的三名潘世奇车队高管之一。
接下来
NASCAR赛事将于下周日在美国塔拉迪加超级赛道举行，卫冕冠军是小里基·斯滕豪斯（Ricky Stenhouse Jr.）。不过斯滕豪斯本赛季并未进入季后赛阵容。
美联社赛车新闻：
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