Two huge wrecks defined Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas, both involving playoff drivers in key positions.
Denny Hamlin taking his 60th career win and locking himself into the Championship 4 may have been the headline of the day, but in the end it was heavy crashes for Ryan Blaney and William Byron which stole the show.
Blaney's came at the end of Stage 1, his right-front tire failing and sending him hard into the outside wall to end his day, while Byron's was even more dramatic – and a scary scene.
The No. 24 car was running in second behind Larson with 30 laps to go when Ty Dillon slowed to pit ahead of him. Apparently not having received the message that the No. 10 was coming to pit road, Byron smashed into the back of him at high speed, opening both cars' bodywork up like tin cans and ending both drivers' days.
While the 18 stage points picked up by Byron will be some consolation, but falling from second on the road to being classified in the mid-30s is the difference between Byron being some 20 points above the cut line and, now, more than a dozen points below it.
Meanwhile, Blaney came into the race second in the playoff standings on points, six ahead of the cut line after points were reset following the Round of 8, but now looks set to end the weekend all-but needing a win to progress to the Championship 4.
The damage to the No. 12 Team Penske car was extensive enough that the team announced within ten minutes that he was done for the day, with Blaney having said on the radio: "I have no steering. Everything is f****ng broken. Everything is f****ng broken on it."
Also in the cut zone after the race are Joey Logano and Chase Elliott – the former benefitting from a bold strategy call to take sixth after struggling for pace all day, and the latter having to fight back to the fringe of the top 20 after going a lap down in the second stage due to a pit road penalty.
With all of that said, let’s take a look at the results below!