Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw the first domino fall in the scramble for a berth in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 10.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano used strategy to his advantage as he won the race and punched his ticket to the championship race for a record sixth time in the NASCAR Playoff era.
Other drivers in the Round of 8 endured both positive and negative races during the South Point 400.
Here’s how the standings look heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway:
Locked In
1. Joey Logano (advanced, win)
Despite a mixed reaction of whether Logano deserved to be in the Championship 4 or not after he was added to the field when Alex Bowman was disqualified from the round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the two-time Cup Series champion and his No. 22 Ford team rose to the occasion when it mattered most at Las Vegas.
He can cruise through the final two races of the Round of 8 knowing he’ll gun for a third title in seven years.
Safe, For Now
2. Christopher Bell (+42)
Nobody was more frustrated than Christopher Bell, who finished second at the 1.5-mile oval. Bell, who led a race-high 155 of the 267 laps, had to play catch up in the final stint after pitting later than others.
After failing to catch Logano, Bell let out his frustrations on the radio as he passed beneath the checkered flag.
“You’ve gotta be ——-(expletive) kidding me,” Bell shouted.
Nonetheless, Bell’s 42-point cushion to the cutline should be reassuring. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is also the defending race winner at Homestead.
3. Kyle Larson (+35)
What looked to be a disastrous day for Kyle Larson and his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team following pit-road issues turned into a potentially title-saving performance.
Despite going down a lap, Larson managed to get his lap back late in the race and finish 11th.
In fact, Larson added two points to his buffer over the cutline to reach 35 markers in the green.
Larson won at Homestead in 2022.
4. William Byron (+27)
A fourth-place finish for William Byron allowed the Daytona 500 winner to pad his gap over the cutline from four points to 27.
It was the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s fourth straight top-four finish.
“Yeah, we really improved a lot as the day progressed,” Byron said. “That was a lot to be said about this No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevy team, and our ability to get the balance close and get the speed once we had the balance close.
“We just started the race a little bit off, but I’m really, really happy with how we came on. I thought we were going to have a shot to compete for a win there in the final stage, but it turned into a fuel mileage race.”
Byron won at Homestead in 2021 and has two additional top-10 results there.
Outside Looking In
5. Denny Hamlin (-27)
Denny Hamlin endured arguably the most tumultuous day out of all the playoff drivers. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had two issues on pit road during the 267-lap race.
However, Hamlin and his No. 11 Toyota crew overcame the miscues to finish eighth. Hamlin is nearing must-win territory despite a top-10 result.
He dropped from eight points out of the top four to 27 behind.
Homestead has been a stout track for Hamlin as he’s scored three wins, six poles and boasts an average finish of 10.9 in 19 starts.
6. Tyler Reddick (-30)
In one of the most bizarre wrecks Las Vegas Motor Speedway has ever seen, Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota went upside down after contact with Chase Elliott at the beginning of Stage Two.
The wreck sidelined Reddick for the remainder of the race as he finished 35th out of 37 cars.
After beginning the race 10 points above the cutline, the 23XI Racing driver has fallen to 30 markers in the red.
Reddick has three top-five finishes at Homestead along with two Xfinity Series wins there.
7. Ryan Blaney (-47)
The defending Cup Series champion may need to win his way into the Championship 4 once again.
After getting involved in the same wreck as Reddick and Elliott, Blaney limped his way to a 32nd-place finish, eight laps down.
That dropped the Team Penske driver from four points below the cutline to a massive 47 markers in arrears.
Blaney finished runner-up to Bell last year at Homestead before winning at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway the following week to lock into the Championship 4.
8. Chase Elliott (-53)
Elliott, who was a part of the wreck with Reddick early in Stage Two, placed 33rd in Sunday’s Cup Series race.
It bumped the 2020 series champion from a mere nine points below the cutline to a whopping 53 markers back. Needless to say, Elliott’s bid for a second Cup Series title is dwindling. He’ll need a victory at either Homestead or Martinsville to advance.
Elliott and the No. 9 HMS team did exactly that during their championship season as they won at Martinsville and followed the victory with a walk-off triumph at Phoenix.