Denny Hamlin being consoled by crew chief Chris Gabehart after his day ended late in the going at Homestead (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish).
HOMESTEAD, FL — In a playoff campaign where Denny Hamlin had stayed mostly scot free from drama, the long elusive quest for the NASCAR Cup Series championship took a costly blow at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hamlin, who was 11 points above the cutoff line, veered right and slammed the Turn 1 wall on Lap 237 to bring out the sixth and final caution of Sunday’s 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1.
Steering broke from his No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry TRD and relegated him to a heartbreaking 30th place finish. Worst of all for Hamlin, he’s 17 points below the cutoff line as Ryan Blaney holds the fourth and final spot going into Martinsville. It is a track that has historically been kind to the man who’s won 51 times in the series.
Once Hamlin brought his car to pit road, it was game over. After exiting from the wounded machine, Hamlin was visibly dejected and was consoled by crew chief Chris Gabehart in the No. 11 pit box. Knowing once again, his chance of Cup glory could slip away as has been the case for his entire career.
The 18-year Cup veteran was checked and released from the infield care center and had little to say on his fourth DNF of the season, two of which have come in the last three races.
“We tried and it just didn’t work out,” said Hamlin, who led 31 laps. “Unfortunate for this Sport Clips Toyota team. We really battled back well today – just a tough break.”
What led to the DNF was contributed from hitting the wall after having an aggressive, all-out war with Blaney for the race lead. More so when the race restarted on Lap 230, as neither were going to surrender the lead to punch their ticket into the Championship 4.
From there, Christopher Bell ducked low to pass both of them for the lead with 38 to go, marking the first time Bell led all race. As Bell slowly checked out, Hamlin and Blaney continued giving each other no room, allowing William Byron an opportunity to pass both and move up to second.
At that point, both racers became mad at each other. All of this cultivated into Hamlin trying to pull the slide job on Blaney which backfired as the latter felt he used him up and cost him ground on the leaders.
“(Denny) tried to slam me two or three times and failed miserably. Then just decided to use me up.” said Blaney after the race. “If you’re going to slide somebody, commit. Don’t half way do it and use me up. I think he was (a hack) today.”
With 32 laps remaining, Hamlin had cleared Blaney for third but it was short lived when the steering broke and crashed. Blaney ended up finishing second to Bell who joined Kyle Larson as the only drivers so far who’ll be fighting for a championship at Phoenix in two weeks.
Denny Hamlin is on the outside looking in with the cutoff race remaining (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish).
Car owner Joe Gibbs is no stranger of seeing the highs and lows in racing and Homestead was no different. With Bell winning and both Hamlin and Martin Truex, Jr. falling out of the race and are on the outside looking in heading into the cutoff racing at Martinsville.
Gibbs explained Sunday’s race is a prime example of the cruel and wicked nature NASCAR is to people at times.
“We had such a disappointment with the 11, Denny, cutting a tire down. I felt like he was fast,” Gibbs said. “Thrilled for us to get a chance to do this (with Bell). We just had real disappointments with two of our cars. The good news is (Hamlin and Truex) are good at Martinsville.
“I think it’s hard to get in the Final 4. I’ll tell you that. I don’t think anything’s a given. I think the 11 has been pretty consistent up until the last couple of weeks,” Gibbs continued. “I think you’re looking at it, and the great thing is we have three cars for our team that have a chance. We still got a chance. That’s the way we look at it. I think we’re going to Martinsville, it’s going to be a classic, I’m sure. But we do have a chance.”
Now, the five-time Martinsville winner will have to hope to simply score a sixth Grandfather Clock or have some luck come his way to make the Championship 4 for a fifth time next Sunday. Coverage of the Xfinity 500 begins October 29 at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC and on SiriusXM Channel 90.
