The South Point 400 turned into a playoff showdown packed with raw emotion and high stakes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Denny Hamlin. His 60th win now ties him with Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time wins list. This triumph not only locked Hamlin into the Championship 4 but also etched his name deeper among NASCAR’s elite, as one of just four drivers since 2000 to hit that mark without a title. Yet, amid the celebrations, whispers started circling the garage about how Hamlin pulled off his magic.

Enter Richard Petty, the King himself, who dominated with 200 wins. With only nine laps led all night, Hamlin’s charge in the final 10 laps felt like a bolt from the blue. “Just put the pedal down those last 10 laps and made it happen,” Hamlin said post-race. That surge spotlighted a familiar garage debate: the Lucky Dog rule, NASCAR’s “free pass” that hands the first lapped car its lap back during cautions to keep things competitive and safe since its 2003 debut. And now, the King has weighed in, calling for a late-race tweak that could reshape the finish of future contests.

Richard Petty, in his Instagram post, leaned into the replay of Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota rocketing past the field in those frantic closing laps at Las Vegas. “Right there at the last, the 11 car just took off and left everybody,” Petty marveled. “I said, what did he do different that he hadn’t done before? I said, Where’d he come from?” It wasn’t just awe in his voice; Petty zeroed in on the Lucky Dog’s role, the rule that had quietly pulled Hamlin back onto the lead lap earlier in the race after he dropped back during a green-flag pit cycle.

That pass, meant to reward bad-luck victims like those with mechanical woes or pit miscues, let Hamlin regroup without the deficit crushing his playoff hopes. But as the king unpacked it, his tone sharpened: the free lap had transformed a mid-pack scramble into a title-altering sprint, bunching the field just when leaders like Kyle Larson thought they had control.

The late-race chaos amplified Petty’s point; a multi-car wreck, sparked by Ty Dillon’s abrupt pit entry catching William Byron off guard, waved the yellow that sealed Hamlin’s move. Byron, running strong up front, slammed into Dillon’s slowing No. 10, scattering debris and handing Hamlin the opening to pounce from fourth. “Nobody said anything to my spotter from what I know. I had zero idea,” Byron said in frustration, his day ending 36th after dominating stretches.

Without the Lucky Dog’s earlier boost, Hamlin might’ve stayed buried too deep to capitalize, potentially costing him that Championship 4 spot and leaving teammates like Christopher Bell, who dodged the mess for third, with an even tougher fight. Petty saw the ripple: drivers grinding up front all night, like Larson, who led 129 laps, end up vulnerable to these resets, diluting the reward for steady dominance.

Petty didn’t stop at critique; he laid out a fix straight from his old-school playbook. “They ought to do one of them deals where, say, with 30 laps to go, nobody gets to make up a lap,” he proposed firmly. This isn’t Petty’s first swing at the rule; he’s long griped about how it props up stragglers at the expense of frontrunners, echoing debates that have simmered since the rule’s safety-driven rollout after near misses like Dale Jarrett‘s 2003 speed-up gamble under yellow.

And Hamlin? The host nailed it: “He’s no Lucky Dog.” Petty nodded along, adding, “You look at it that way. Then you got the guys that’s running up front all day and continue to run up front.” It’s a sentiment that resurfaced criticisms from years back, like Chase Elliott‘s 2019 Atlanta frustration when officials skipped the pass despite his eligibility.

“NASCAR officials haven’t been doing a very good job the past couple weeks with a few calls … just easy stuff that’s not difficult—if that is indeed the case,” Elliott vented after finishing 19th, highlighting the rule’s inconsistent bite that leaves drivers second-guessing.

As Petty’s words hang in the air, they cut deeper into Hamlin’s bigger story, one where this Vegas grit might finally crack his championship drought.

The King’s verdict on Hamlin’s title shot

Hamlin’s path to Phoenix for the finale feels like destiny knocking after that Vegas masterclass, but it’s Richard Petty’s stamp of approval that adds real weight. The seven-time champ, who’s watched Hamlin chase the big one through five Championship 4 trips without the crown, sees something fresh this time around. Hamlin’s six wins in 2025, including that emotional 60th at Vegas where his ailing dad watched from the stands, have him locked in without the points scramble, a rare luxury in the Next Gen era’s cutthroat playoffs.

At 44, with a contract extension through 2027, Hamlin is blending veteran savvy with crew chief Chris Gayle’s first finale call, turning past heartbreaks like his 2019 Phoenix 10th-place fade into fuel.

“Well, right now he’s got the best chance because he’s automatically in the top playoff deals. He’s had a pretty dang good year.” Petty’s not exaggerating; Hamlin’s swept victories at Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan, Dover, and now Vegas this season, tracks where he’s won multiple times before. It’s a far cry from his early days dodging Jimmie Johnson‘s shadow, when seven titles seemed an unbreakable wall.

Now, with Joe Gibbs Racing‘s horsepower and Hamlin’s matured edge, think his three Daytona 500s and Pocono record, Petty figures the stars align for a breakthrough that’d vault Hamlin past Kyle Busch’s 63 into ninth all-time.

That belief runs even deeper when Petty tallies the intangibles. “I mean, you win 60 races nowadays, that’s a bunch of races. So, his team and him, the whole situation—this is probably his best chance he’s ever had to have a chance at the championship.” Hitting 60 ties legends like Harvick, but in an era of parity, it screams consistency. Hamlin’s the only active driver without a title to reach it, named among NASCAR’s 75 Greatest in 2023 for good reason.

Crew chief Dale Inman, Petty’s old right-hand man, backs it up, praising Hamlin’s clutch gene that shines in the playoffs. As Talladega and Martinsville loom as tune-ups, Hamlin’s Vegas pedal-to-metal mindset could finally deliver the hardware, quieting the “what ifs” for good.