Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are targeting nothing less than race victories to maintain their championship hopes of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Both Joe Gibbs Racing competitors emphasized the winning term as their ultimate approach for the remaining six Chase events after Kyle Larson knocked out the competition by scoring a dominant victory in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 27, that enabled the latter to extend his lead in the Chase standings over his remaining 15 rivals, including Hamlin and Bell.
Hamlin entered Kansas, the fourth Chase event of the 2026 Cup Series season, trailing Larson by a single point. After taking the green flag in sixth place, the Chesterfield, Virginia, native executed a competitive run at the front for the event’s entirety by securing top-three results and a combined 17 points between the event’s first two stage periods. When the checkered flag flew, Hamlin also outdueled teammate Chase Briscoe to finish in third place for his 15th top-five result of the 2026 season, his 10th in the top-three mark and his 17th top-five result overall at Kansas Speedway in the Cup division. It also marks Hamlin’s third consecutive result in the top-10 mark after rallying from an 18th-place result from the Chase’s opener at Darlington Raceway in early September.
Ultimately, Larson’s victory combined with the latter winning the first two stage periods increased Hamlin’s deficit to 26 points as Hamlin does not conclude a Cup event with the points lead for the first time since Michigan International Speedway in June.
When asked about a missing element to his strong performance and result, Hamlin had a simple response:
“Winning. That’s the only difference,” Hamlin said on USA Network. “Just didn’t quite have it today. Just was hanging around. Obviously, at the end, we ran a lot down, but just not enough time and track position. Overall, just that’s kind of what we had. Third-place car, driver, and everything today. You know, we just got to continue to put together days like this, and we also got to win. We got to win a few races between now and the end of the year.”
Like Hamlin, Bell capped off a strong run with a strong result that left the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry disappointed and looking to regain the group lost to Larson.
The Norman, Oklahoma, native started in third place and notched a pair of fifth-place results along with 12 combined stage points following the event’s first two stage periods. After racing within the top-five mark in the closing laps, Bell would be outdueled by Ryan Blaney on the final lap to end up in sixth place, but it was enough for the former to achieve his 15th top-10 result of the 2026 season, his third top-10 result through the first four Chase events of this season and his 10th at Kansas Speedway.
Despite jumping from fourth to third in the Chase standings, Bell’s points deficit to Larson increased from 17 to 50 and has left this year’s Southern 500 champion and Chase opener winner seeking to regain his competitive mojo and outduel Larson for victories to remain in the title fight.
“After Darlington, I was thinking that two more wins would do it,” Bell said on USA Network. “Now with Larson winning, if I’m going to be the champion, I think we’re going to have to win three of the next, whatever it is, six. Larson’s doing a good job and getting some points, and we’re hanging out right now. I just saw that we need to be a lot better.”
With Kansas Speedway in the rearview mirror, Hamlin and Bell shift their focus to the fifth Chase event of this season, that being Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the South Point 400. Hamlin enters Vegas with an advantage as he has won at Vegas three times, including the Cup Series’ last two scheduled visits, while Bell has garnered five top-five results at Vegas, including a pair of runner-up results and top-five finishes in his latest two Cup starts at the venue. With Larson being a three-time winner at Vegas, both Hamlin and Bell will aim to have the upper hand to maximize their on-track competitiveness for race victories and ace both Larson and the competition to regain the points needed to remain in championship contention.
The 2026 South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur next Sunday, October 4, at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN Radio, SiriusXM and HBO MAX.
