Hamlin Dominates Track in Exciting NASCAR Win

LAS VEGAS — Denny Hamlin returned to victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday for his first win since he lost the NASCAR championship four months ago, and first since the death of his father in a December house fire. “I knew it took a few weeks to feel like driving,” Hamlin said after his 61st career victory. “Over the last couple weeks, I definitely regained my love of it, got refocused.

These are great opportunities for us. ” Hamlin’s 60th career victory was at Las Vegas last October, a win he dedicated to his father as it locked Hamlin into NASCAR’s championship-deciding finale. His father was in poor health and Hamlin went into the race knowing it was probably his final chance to win a championship while Dennis Hamlin was still alive.

Then Hamlin dominated last year’s title-decider at Phoenix Raceway but the wrong call on the final pit stop cost him the Cup championship that has eluded the three-time Daytona 500 winner. What followed was an emotional rollercoaster: Hamlin, as co-owner of 23XI Racing, was part of the winning team in a federal lawsuit against NASCAR last December. Weeks later, his father was killed in a fire that destroyed the home Hamlin purchased to thank his parents for getting him into NASCAR.

He returned for the start of his 21st season and went to victory lane as an owner with Tyler Reddick when the 23XI Racing driver won the Daytona 500 and then set a NASCAR record by winning the first three races of the year. Most of the attention went to 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan as Reddick won Daytona, Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas. Hamlin did his part at Las Vegas to put himself back in the spotlight.