Chase Briscoe Was a ‘Sitting Duck for Walking Hall of Famer’ Denny Hamlin at Las Vegas
Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin was hailed as a walking lagend, highlighting his impressive form and 60th career Cup win.
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Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin (Via nascar.com and @NASCAR/X)
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The 2025 playoff R-8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway witnessed a masterclass run from Denny Hamlin in the last ten laps to secure a milestone 60th career Cup race win. He took advantage of the fresh tier advantage he had in the last restart, used all the cars pace to overtake Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe, who initially build a significant gap to the No:11.
It marked Denny Hamlin’s 6th win of the season and earned him his maiden chamoionship-4 appearance of the Next-Gen era, the best shot he ever had to win the Bill France Cup according to Richard Petty. In the latest episode of Happy Hour podcast, Kevin Harvick’s co-host Mamba Smith had nothing but praise for the champion driver, branding him as a walking Hall of Famer.
Denny hasn’t been to the Championship 4 in a while, so having a shot at a championship is huge for that group. We’ve said it before — he’s a walking Hall of Famer. The driver that he is, what he can do with a race car, and the way he puts people in compromising situations — it’s incredible.
Mamba Smith said via Happy Hour podcast.
The NASCAR insider highlighted how the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran took the lead from Kyle Larson, who is solid when it comes to defending. He made effective moves up and down the lane to overtake the No:5 Chevy. Once that happened race leader Chase Briscoe didn’t have any chance, despite the gap he built, he was a sitting duck to his teammate.
Even when he was racing with [Kyle] Larson, you could see Kyle making some of the same moves, just maybe not quite as close, still giving him a lane. Denny took the top, ran down the 19, and once he did, Chase [Briscoe] was a sitting duck. It was like, ‘Okay, let’s go ahead.’
Mamba Smith added.
Kevin Harvick declares Denny Hamlin is on a mission
In the same podcast earlier, 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick shared his thoughts on the veteran racer success. He matched the ex-SHR driver career win stat with the Las Vegas playoff race triumph.
The veteran pointed out that the No:11 team is very determined at the moment to go all the way and dominate the championship battle. The veteran highlighted that the win was emotional with everything going on within the team and his personal driver.
That 11 was on rails at the end. The driver of the 11 is very determined right now with everything he’s doing. There was a lot of emotion after the race with everything going on in Denny’s life. You saw how important it was to get that 60th win.
Kevin Harvick said.
His father is ill, the veteran is fighting NASCAR in an anti-trust lawsuit with his team 23XI Racing, while having the massive pressure of winning his maiden championship on his shoulders. They are a team on a mission in the 2025 season.
His dad’s been ill, he’s got the lawsuit going on, you’ve got all the pressure of the championship — and you could just see all of it hit him at once. But those guys are on a mission right now for sure.
Kevin Harvick added.
The comments from the future Hall of Famer shows, Richard Petty is right, Denny Hamlin is the favorite to win the title and has the most momentum on his side he has ever had to win among the current grid. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the coming four races of the season.
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