Denny Hamlin’s hope for his third win of the Cup Series season has come to a crushing end after his late spin at Texas Motor Speedway. He and Chase Elliott were contesting for the lead, with just a few laps left in the race when the No. 11 came off aggressively on the restart and tried to push his luck by dive-bombing inside the racetrack. This eventually resulted in him getting loose and spinning out, crashing into the wall.

This caution led the race into overtime and once again put “Fan Favorite” Chase Elliott in a prime position to mark his comeback win. The HMS driver has suffered a winless drought of 42 races, and today he just might be able to spark his comeback. Hamlin’s spin certainly didn’t come as a surprise because several drivers suffered a similar fate today.

Untimely cautions hampered Hamlin’s chances of a win

With 23 laps to go, Hamlin made his move to pass Elliott’s No. 9 car choosing the outside lane, and was successful in doing so. From here on, it looked like he was through to make it to the victory lane, but a caution completely flipped the race on its head. It was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who ended up crashing into the wall, flagging the 12th caution of the race.

In the aftermath of the crash, Elliott by the thinnest of margins got the lead from Hamlin for the restart and certainly made the most of it. Hamlin did try his best to repeat his passing move on Elliott. Only this time he was aggressive in defending his lead. In a desperate attempt coming into Turn 3, Hamlin tried squeezing inside of the racetrack, but his car soon got loose, resulting in him crashing out.

Explaining the incident after the race, the JGR driver said, “I was on the inside where I needed to be going in Turn 3 and he wasn’t that strong up in the high lane of three and four either. So I thought I was in a really good spot there even though he was beside me. I didn’t need that caution for sure, but that’s what you have here at Texas. Lots of cautions and got to navigate around it and do the best you can,” he said via Frontstretch.

After the race, Elliot shared his thoughts on what happened on the track and how it helped him win. He said, “It was just crazy. This place is so sketchy. I haven’t seen a replay of Denny (Hamlin) and us. I didn’t feel like I did anything super crazy there any more than anybody’s ever done to me. Just had to run forward. I want to look at it. I didn’t feel like I did anything to crash him. I think just the circumstances. But nonetheless, apologies to him, if so…”

Along with breaking his 42-race winless streak, Elliot broke his primary sponsor ‘Hooters’ 30-year-long drought. Alan Kulwicki helped them with the last win in Pocono on June 14, 1992. Elliot waited for this chance a couple of times and finally got the chance to his respect. He told, “Hooters has been a great partner of ours for a number of years now and it’s been a dream to pay respect to Alan Kulwicki and do a ‘Polish victory lap’ in the Hooters colors.” 

Though Hamlin fell behind and finished in the 30th position, he acknowledged the rise of Chase Elliott and how this win would bring him back into the title contention.

Elliott is back to winning ways in the NASCAR Cup Series

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If there was one driver who desperately needed a win, it was Chase Elliott. From contesting for the championship to not making it to the playoffs in 2023, the HMS driver hit a career low last year and was eyeing a comeback win. The two consecutive top-five finishes allowed him to build momentum and confidence, which eventually transpired into a long-awaited win at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Hamlin was asked if this win put Elliott back in contention for the championship, to which he replied, “I mean they’ve slowly gotten better as the season’s gone on. Yeah, I mean, it seems like a couple of organizations dominating right now, and he’s part of one of them, and he’s capable for a long time. So he’s certainly a threat because he’s done it before.”

Despite the late crash, Denny Hamlin still holds onto his third place in the standings. Meanwhile, Elliott jumped two more spots and is now fourth just behind his JGR rival.