Chase Briscoe fends off Kyle Larson’s last-lap surge to win in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Chase Briscoe held off a last-lap charge from points leader Kyle Larson to win the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Briscoe swept all three stages on the 1.5-mile track to earn maximum playoff points. Larson lost control on the final stretch and collided with Tyler Reddick, who slid into the infield but still recovered to finish third.

It was Briscoe’s first career Cup Series victory in Las Vegas, where he led a race-high 175 laps. Briscoe also moved up to sixth in The Chase standings.

Denny Hamlin, who entered second in the playoff standings, finished 16th and was shut out of stage points.

Briscoe drove back from third place to pass Austin Cindric late in the second stage for the win. Cindric finished second in the stage, followed by Christopher Bell in third.

Larson salvaged a stage point by finishing 10th, while Hamlin was shut out of stage points in 14th.

Briscoe won the opening stage ahead of Bell and Ryan Blaney. Briscoe elected not to pit for tires during a late green-flag pit cycle, holding off the field on the restart to secure the stage victory.

Hamlin led the first 39 laps and was running third when he spun three laps before the end of the stage. Although he avoided major damage and continued, the lack of a caution flag caused him to fall back to 28th at the stage break. Hamlin set the fastest lap of the stage at 29.572 seconds on the third lap.

Larson, who started sixth, endured a 26-second green-flag pit stop while his pit crew made rear suspension adjustments. After dropping to 32nd place, he worked his way back to 24th by the end of the stage.

Though he briefly fell off the lead lap, Larson regained it on lap 45 when a caution flew for a Zane Smith spin.

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