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Kevin Harvick reacts to Denny Hamlin winning at Las Vegas, matching all-time NASCAR Cup wins

Stephen Samraby: Steve Samra10/14/25SamraSource
Denny Hamlin
(Gary A. Vasquez)

Denny Hamlin was emotional as he notched win No. 60 of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Las Vegas over the weekend. The victory tied him with former champion Kevin Harvick and locked the veteran wheelman into the Championship 4 race on Nov. 2.

As the dust settled on the moment, Harvick took some time to reflect during the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. Having shared the track with Hamlin for nearly two decades, so it’s not a surprise to him that the No. 11 team has been supremely motivated in recent weeks — especially given the circumstances surrounding Hamlin’s life on and off the track.

“That 11 was on rails at the end. The driver of the 11 is very determined right now with everything he’s doing,” Harvick explained. “There was a lot of emotion after the race with everything going on in Denny’s life. You saw how important it was to get that 60th win.

“His dad’s been ill, he’s got the lawsuit going on, you’ve got all the pressure of the championship — and you could just see all of it hit him at once. But those guys are on a mission right now for sure.”

Harvick’s co-host, Mamba Smith, echoed that sentiment. He praised both Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gayle for the chemistry they’ve developed this season. Smith believes the pairing has brought out the best in Hamlin and positioned the team perfectly for their first title run.

“Chris Gayle has usually worked with young drivers, and he talked about that a lot at the beginning of the year. Now he’s able to flex all the knowledge he’s learned with someone who knows exactly what they need and want out of their car — and maybe is even a step ahead. That lets Chris work on something else while Denny’s fine-tuning his part. That combination is clearly working. Six wins is a huge total, and they should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished this year,” Smith added.

“Denny hasn’t been to the Championship 4 in a while, so having a shot at a championship is huge for that group. We’ve said it before — he’s a walking Hall of Famer. The driver that he is, what he can do with a race car, and the way he puts people in compromising situations — it’s incredible.

“Even when he was racing with [Kyle] Larson, you could see Kyle making some of the same moves, just maybe not quite as close, still giving him a lane. Denny took the top, ran down the 19, and once he did, Chase [Briscoe] was a sitting duck. It was like, ‘Okay, let’s go ahead.’”

With the Las Vegas victory, Hamlin not only tied Harvick on the all-time wins list, but also reminded the field that he’s still among NASCAR’s elite. As he chases that elusive first championship, his performance and the passion making this one of the most compelling playoff runs we’ve seen in quite some time.