Denny Hamlin sure helped his cause Sunday night.
By winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver punched his ticket to the Round of Eight in the NASCAR Cup Series.
But two races remain in the Round of 12, so plenty of jockeying still is to be done.
Here are the standings as we approach the middle leg of the Round of 12.
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kyle Larson
3. Kyle Busch
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Chase Elliott
7. Joey Logano
8. Brad Keselowski
9. William Byron
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Alex Bowman
12. Christopher Bell
Keselowski’s current hold on the final spot is slim, with Byron trailing him by four points, Harvick by seven, Bowman by 13 and Bell by 25.
Next up is the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday.
