LAS VEGAS — Denny Hamlin rocketed past teammate Chase Briscoe Sunday afternoon to win the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series' Round of 8 playoff, the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Round of 8 win made Hamlin the first participant of the four drivers who will compete for the title in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix next month.

After a restart wreck for the fifth caution involving Ty Gibbs, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's No. 11 restarted sixth, worked through traffic, and passed Kyle Larson then Briscoe to notch his series-best sixth win this season by 1.533 seconds over Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet.

The Toyota driver's second Vegas win was the 60th of his career, tying him with Kevin Harvick for 10thon the all-time Cup list.

Christopher Bell, Briscoe and Tyler Reddick

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