Denny Hamlin had exactly the opportunity he needed Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. Kyle Larson was struggling, the championship lead was within reach, and Hamlin had worked his way into contention.
Then, in a matter of laps, his afternoon unraveled.
A flat tire and a costly pit-road speeding penalty left Hamlin a lap down in Sunday’s Freeway Insurance 500, turning what could have been a major breakthrough in the NASCAR Cup Series championship battle into a frustrating 28th-place finish.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver still managed to gain 18 points on Larson, who finished 34th. But with three races remaining in the Chase, Hamlin trails the championship leader by 31 points, and Sunday’s missed opportunity could prove costly.
Denny Hamlin’s Phoenix Race Unravels After Two Costly Setbacks
Hamlin wasn’t having a perfect afternoon, but his No. 11 Toyota had come alive during the second half of the race.
After starting fourth and collecting points in both stages, Hamlin was running third when a right-rear tire went flat. He headed to pit road, only to compound the problem with a speeding penalty.
That second mistake proved particularly damaging.
When the caution came out shortly afterward, Hamlin was positioned to receive the free pass and return to the lead lap. His penalty made him ineligible. He also couldn’t use the wave-around to recover the lost lap.
Suddenly, a driver who had been running near the front was trapped a lap down with little chance to salvage the finish he needed.
“I could not get it to stop coming to pit lane. I apologize for that,” Hamlin told crew chief Chris Gayle over the radio.
Hamlin later explained that he had been trying to keep the car under control while dealing with the tire problem.
“A corner before I felt the car bottom out,” Hamlin said to reporters on pit road. “So, I knew at that point that I definitely had a tire. At that point, I was just trying to hang on and somehow try to get it to pit road, and obviously I had no idea where I was on speed with the right rear tire on it.”
Hamlin never recovered the lost lap. His finish also ended a streak of 31 consecutive races on the lead lap, dating to the Daytona 500 in February.
Hamlin Gains Ground on Kyle Larson, but Leaves Phoenix Frustrated
The final standings offered little consolation.
Larson’s own miserable afternoon gave Hamlin a chance to dramatically reshape the championship picture. Instead, the No. 11 team left Phoenix having gained 18 points while surrendering an opportunity to collect considerably more.
Hamlin didn’t try to disguise his disappointment.
“I feel like [we] just need, when we have a good car like we were in the second half of the race today, to finish well,” he said. “And we just haven’t finished.”
He also acknowledged the larger pattern behind his frustration.
“Because it’s about our day, not about others’ days,” Hamlin said. “We have not finished races to the best of our capability. So, if we can start doing that, in a really big hurry, you never know what could happen.”
There is still time for Hamlin to make up the difference. Thirty-one points with three races remaining is hardly an insurmountable deficit.
But Phoenix was the kind of afternoon championship contenders cannot afford to waste. Larson had opened the door, and Hamlin was in position to take advantage.
Instead, he left wondering how much closer he could have been.