“The mechanical stuff is something that I can’t control. The last two weeks, we had that.” Denny Hamlin dropped an ominous warning ahead of the Coca-Cola 600 race. During the Kansas race, his No. 11 Toyota faced a transaxle failure, leading to a 36th-place finish. Then, a mechanical mishap in Texas resulted in a fire. Hamlin worked hard to overcome this trend of setbacks at Charlotte, but in vain.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had a stellar expectation for the race. Denny Hamlin is tied with Kyle Busch at 12 top 10s in this event and won the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 in the Next-Gen era. However, something utterly unexpected shattered his chances in 2025, and it played out when he was poised to battle William Byron for the win.

Denny Hamlin dejectedly admits to the mistake

Well, the mishap was unexpected because of recent history. When Denny Hamlin won in Martinsville and Darlington, the trick up his sleeve was similar in both races. That involved the No. 11 JGR pit crew, characterized by lightning-fast speed and fiery precision. A blistering 8.3-second pit stop at Darlington propelled him from 3rd to 1st on the final restart, as he took his second victory of the season. However, his strong point ended up being the race-disabling factor at Charlotte.

Hamlin started in the 20th place, worked his way up to 7th by the end of Stage 1. By lap 120, he was hounding the rear of William Byron’s car. Although Byron swept three stages, Hamlin led for 53 laps, starting from lap 261. This jaw-dropping fight left fans on the edge, as Byron and Hamlin swapped the lead 12 times and drove most of the race as 1-2, until Hamlin’s team made a technical mistake.

With 52 laps left, Denny Hamlin pitted to fill up his fuel tank. During the pit stop, you could see the #11’s fueler putting the cannister in, but enough fuel didn’t enter the car, with some of it spilling down in the pits. This was a huge blow for Hamlin, as it forced him to pit for fuel once again when Byron did not have to, putting him out of contention in the final battle for victory at the 600-miler.

Hamlin finished 16th, and in a post-race interview, the helpless expression on Hamlin’s face stood out as he reflected on his pit crew’s mistake: “No fuel came out of the can. So, not sure. It was plugged in, I saw that a guy plugged it in, but there was no fuel in the can. There was nothing going into the car.” As a result, there was one less contender in the final battle for victory, which Ross Chastain won in the end.

Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was another high-flyer in this race, hounding William Byron in the top five. However, his No. 45 car faltered towards the end. Denny Hamlin confessed that a caution would have helped him: “It certainly would have helped, we would have all come back in. At least re-racked there.” However, Hamlin focused on his own misfortune more. “But I just wanted to see that last run kind of play out. It was still a great finish, great race anyway. It was fun battling up front, nobody could lead ’cause they were getting too loose. My car was better in second, fast enough to lead. But once I led, it was too loose. We were just back and forth.” 

After the race, Hamlin’s arch nemesis, Ross Chastain, drove his No. 1 Chevy by with the checkered flag in hand, and Hamlin looked on longingly. Things turned topsy-turvy for Denny Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Interestingly, the veteran driver had predicted it!

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Hamlin gave out a forewarning

Well, the twin mechanical mishaps at Texas and Kansas already kept Denny Hamlin on the edge. Then, another slice of trouble visited him during the qualifying session for the Coca-Cola 600. During an hour-long practice split into two 25-minute group sessions, Hamlin was the fourth-fastest in Group 1. Then, in qualifying, he could settle for a 20th-place starting spot. As he struggled for speed in his qualifying run, Hamlin was left with a far-from-ideal pit stall in the 10th slot from the front. The veteran NASCAR statesman rightly feared that pit road problems could cost him as they did last year. In 2024, Hamlin had an altercation with Chris Buescher while exiting pit road.

Denny Hamlin said before the 2025 race, “I think the car has good long run speed. Gotta work on the short runs. I just don’t quite have it there. Qualifying was not good. With these pit stalls at Charlotte, they’re so small. It’s like the size of Martinsville. Mile and a half track, we have tiny, tiny pit stalls. So we’re going to have a horrible pit selection, and last year that was our Achilles heel. Just getting boxed in every single stop. Just going to have to overcome it. Hopefully, the guys around us have some bad days.” As it turned out, the veteran was right, and his pit crew did make a crucial mistake.

Denny Hamlin put up a strong fight in Charlotte, nonetheless. His dominance could pave the way for upcoming victories in the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.