TC Daily Pit Stop: Recapping The Weekend from Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Entry Lists for Darlington
TC Daily Pit Stop: Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Denny Hamlin Holds Off Chase Elliott to Claim Second Straight Las Vegas Win
There has been so much change in Denny Hamlin’s life since the last time he went to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series, but coming back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was able to turn out the same result.
Hamlin was able to hold off NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, Chase Elliott, during what ended up being the longest green-flag run on a set of Goodyear tires all afternoon, even as his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE began to fade dramatically in the final laps.
To even be in contention in the first place was a minor miracle for Hamlin, after the Chesterfield, Virginia-native, along with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, were busted for speedway at Lap 83 (just after the end of Stage 1).
RACE RECAP
RACE RESULTS
POINT STANDINGS
Ty Gibbs Scores Third Straight Top-Five Despite Early Speeding Penalty
There is always going to be a certain level of compartmentalization required, as a professional athlete, to perform at the highest level possible. Over the last three weeks, Ty Gibbs has executed that perfectly.
In fact, Gibbs, 23, is on a career-high streak of three consecutive top-five results in the NASCAR Cup Series — finishing fourth at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), fourth at Phoenix Raceway, and fifth on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It can’t be an easy thing, either. There’s been a lot made about how Gibbs, entering his fourth full-time campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series as a driver for the championship-winning organization Joe Gibbs Racing, hasn’t yet made it to Victory Lane.
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Daniel Suarez Calls Out “Two-Faced” Ross Chastain After Las Vegas Post-Race Scuffle
It’s been an awkward start to the 2026 season for Daniel Suarez, a current Spire Motorsports driver and former Trackhouse Racing driver. Through the opening five NASCAR Cup Series point races of the season, the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet has encountered at least one on-track incident with each of the three drivers in the Trackhouse Racing stable.
Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Suarez found himself racing in tight quarters with Ross Chastain, who served as his teammate at Trackhouse Racing from 2022 until Suarez’s departure at the end of the 2025 campaign.
The heated on-track battle in the closing laps led to Chastain slamming into Suarez’s No. 7 machine on the cool-down lap after the race, and as the two drivers climbed from their cars on pit road, they got into a jawing match with one another, and Chastain shoved Suarez.
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HMS Finds Speed in First Mile-And-A-Half Race with New Chevrolet Body
For the first time since 2019, Chevrolet has failed to put one of its entries in Victory Lane throughout the opening five weeks of a NASCAR Cup Series campaign.
The early-season drought comes immediately following some subtle off-season body changes for Chevrolet-backed organizations, with the successful automaker choosing to reintroduce the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to NASCAR competition in 2026, using its Carbon Performance Package.
Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked the first mile-and-a-half event of the new season, and it was evident right off the track that Toyota had a clear advantage over Chevrolet, and even Ford at this point in the season.
While the initial pace may have been a cause for concern, especially considering the record of Hendrick Motorsports at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Las Vegas, Nevada, it was the championship-winning organization that showed the Chevrolet teams may not be as far off as initially thought.
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DARLINGTON ENTRY LISTS:
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Sport Clips 200 Entry List (40 Cars)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up SC 200 Entry List (36 Trucks)
Additional Resources:
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