Brutal. Crushing. Unbelievable. These are ways to describe Denny Hamlin’s finish in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
After Hamlin led 208 laps and held a three-second lead for first place with four laps to go at Phoenix Raceway last Sunday, William Byron went into the wall and the caution flag came out. Disaster then struck for Hamlin, as he slipped to 10th place following a trip to pit road, and Kyle Larson went on to finish ahead of Hamlin to win the Cup Series championship.
Kevin Harvick feels Hamlin’s pain.
“I feel absolutely gutted for Denny Hamlin,” Harvick said on “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.” “With everything that they put together this year, the dominant car that they had in the final event and so many other events and knowing the scenario with his Dad and everything that is happening for him [I’m gutted for Hamlin].”
As for the pit stop, Hamlin & Co. chose to get four new tires, while Larson, who was previously in fifth place, got just two new tires and subsequently started overtime five spots ahead of Hamlin. Larson finished the race in third place, and Hamlin finished sixth, with the former earning his second career Cup Series title.
“That’s got to be one of the toughest calls that you could possibly ever make as a crew chief,” Harvick said about Hamlin taking four tires. “You heard him say it after the race, ‘it just doesn’t seem like it’s meant to be, and if I can’t win the championship in this car, then maybe I’m not going to win one.’ And then you saw the comments after the race of him saying ‘I don’t know if I ever want to drive a car again.”
Hamlin, who just raced his 20th full-time season on the NASCAR circuit, remains without a Cup Series championship.
This season, Hamlin won six races, posted 14 top-five finishes and 18 top-10 finishes, finishing second to the Cup Series champion for the second time in his career. This was Hamlin’s first season with crew chief Chris Gayle after six seasons with Chris Gabehart as his crew chief (2019-24).
The 44-year-old Hamlin has finished third for the Cup Series title in three seasons and top 10 in 17 of his 20 full-time seasons. Hamlin, who has spent his entire Cup Series career at Joe Gibbs Racing, is also the co-owner of 23XI Racing with NBA legend Michael Jordan.
Hamlin is tied with Harvick for all-time wins in NASCAR history with 60.
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