It felt like déjà vu for Joe Gibbs Racing’s star driver. Denny Hamlin watched the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history unfold right in front of him after losing the lead on the final restart. It would have reminded him of last year at Kansas Speedway, where he was all set to win until a late caution derailed him with less than 10 laps left. This Sunday though, pit road was his downfall. Initially, he overshot his pit stall and struggled to maneuver around Austin Hill. Later, he had to slow down abruptly because Ryan Preece was pulling into his stall right in front. Hamlin was frustrated with how Richard Childress and his team handled things, pointing out that they definitely weren’t being considerate.

Denny Hamlin was eyeing his fourth win of the season but got tripped up by Austin Hill and his crew

Toyota had dominated the first four Next Gen races at Kansas Speedway, and it looked like they were set to do it again. Denny Hamlin was leading the pack, and it seemed like another Toyota win was in the cards. However, Hamlin’s #11 team hit snag after snag on pit road. The first major issue came at the end of the opening stage when he got pinned in by Austin Hill, causing him to drop seven spots. 

Although Hamlin clawed back to finish third in the second stage, he got held up again on pit road, this time by Ryan Preece struggling to find his pit stall, which cost him another seven positions. Hamlin and his crew chief were pretty steamed about the incidents. He vented on his podcast, explaining that since Austin Hill was the last one on the lead lap, he really didn’t need to block him. 

“He [Austin Hill] was last. He was the last car on the lead lap. He wasn’t going to gain anything. And I’m leading the race and they boxed me in and I’m like, it wasn’t very courteous for sure, but it’s like, it seems I don’t know why. I thought it would just be common sense for driver spotter and crew chief to if someone is racing for the lead, don’t you know, and you are racing for nothing. You are last, you’re the last car. Let the guy leave before you know if it’s going to be close,” the#11 driver said.

Denny Hamlin almost had a serious mishap when he nearly clipped one of his pit crew because Austin Hill stopped abruptly. Hamlin was baffled by what was going on. Meanwhile, his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, was really ticked off about the whole ordeal.

As the race was winding down, Martin Truex Jr, on fresher tires, quickly moved up to second place and looked like he might catch Denny Hamlin. But before Truex could make his move, their former teammate, Kyle Busch, spun out, triggering a caution. This series of setbacks left Hamlin in a tight spot.

#11 found himself in a tough spot during the final laps

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Following Kyle Busch’s spin, his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, decided to fit Hamlin’s car with two fresh tires and shoot for the lead. But as the race resumed in overtime, Kyle Larson squeezed Hamlin into a three-wide squeeze entering Turn 1. Caught in the middle, all Hamlin could do was watch as the #5 Chevrolet, along with Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, and Martin Truex Jr, all zoomed past him, dropping him to fifth by the time they crossed the finish line.

Reflecting on the chaotic restart, Denny Hamlin said, “Well, a difficult spot, right? I needed to get the push from [Larson], but I knew he wasn’t going to stay in line, that he was going to go for the win. Unfortunately, it left me in a spot where I was vulnerable in the middle.”

For the second week in a row, Hamlin led the most laps, commanding the race for 71 laps. The #11 car has led the most laps in four of the 12 races this season and has been at the front in the last 16 races, dating back to last October in Las Vegas. Last September, after a disappointing run at Kansas, Denny Hamlin bounced back with a win at Bristol. With the NASCAR Cup Series heading to Darlington Raceway next Sunday for the Goodyear 400, he might be aiming to pull off a similar comeback at one of his favorite tracks.