The #11 team’s campaign came to an abrupt halt in Martinsville. Dominating the proceedings with a race-high 156 led laps, Denny Hamlin seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut. However, a four-tire change pit stop before the final restart turned the race on its head for the JGR veteran. Amidst all this anguish, there was another driver that hindered the #11’s charge, and it was the one in order of the #22 Ford, Joey Logano.

Coming into the race with a 17-point deficit, Denny Hamlin had no option but to take control early on. He did the same as he went on to win stage 1 and finished the second stage in P2. All of that contributed to his gaining momentum in the third stage of the race, but alas, it was disrupted by Joey Logano, triggering the last caution flag of the race.

Denny Hamlin concedes defeat to Ryan Blaney

The proverb ‘One man’s loss is another’s gain,’ applied perfectly to the scenario. In the 273rd lap of the race, reigning champion Joey Logano got into contact with his No. 11 teammate. The connection pushed Ty Gibbs into the middle lane, and subsequently, a massive pile-up ensued. This not only broke the flow of the race, it made sure that Denny Hamlin lost all of the momentum he had. The restart pushed Hamlin back to 11th, the perfect time for Ryan Blaney to push forward at his home track.

The No. 12 driver capitalized on the opening created by the restart. Surprisingly, and to the misfortune of Denny Hamlin, that was also the last caution flag of the race. What is the problem with that? Denny didn’t get another chance to pass cars and move closer to Blaney. The 42-year-old commended the Team Penske star’s grit to hold on for the win in a post-race interview with famous journalist Bob Pockrass.

“I knew there was no catching and the only thing I was trying to do at the end was try to pass every car I could,” claimed Hamlin. “Just in case caution comes out, then I don’t have a lot of lapped cars between us; I mean, I’m sure it was gonna be a fair amount of them, but yeah, I just would have liked to try something, but I mean, no. He passed us, pulled away, won the race.”

The driver of the No. 11 was up to the task ahead of him, but the race events acted against him. Ryan Blaney also pitted late and at the same time as him. Both brought out a whole new set of tires as well. Commenting on whether that made a remarkable difference, he then added,

“Had nothing to do with pit strategy or anything like that. We did a great job keeping ourselves front all day, and we passed all but a couple. One of them was definitely superior.” 

Read More: Martinville Analysis: Ryan Blaney & William Byron Punch Championship Tickets, Playoff Heartbreak for Denny Hamlin & Martin Truex Jr & Phoenix Outlook

As the interview continued, the Stage 1 winner moved on to convey his thoughts about Logano’s actions. Hamlin had already voiced his frustration at the 2022 champion with expletives earlier on the radio in the race.

The JGR driver demands more respect from Joey Logano

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Joey Logano was among the first four drivers to be ousted from the Cup Series playoffs. It is indeed a surprising development to have the reigning champion out of favor so soon. Hamlin, on the other hand, had a big burden on his shoulders with the added pressure of gaining enough points to contend with this year’s winningest driver, William Byron.

Denny Hamlin then addressed the situation that Ty’s wreck brought forth, putting him behind drivers who were out of contention for Phoenix. Having to navigate back to the front row, Hamlin couldn’t control his temper against Logano as he lashed out at him on the team radio. The pair had clashed at Martinsville in 2022 as well, which led to them exchanging blows at each other.

“I was watching them with all the guys. There’s definitely a lot of games getting played with teammates racing certain ways, but they are allowed to do that and aren’t racing against it. So certainly it is advantageous for you to do that.” stated the #11 driver.

“The only issue I really had was with Logano knocking out Ty there or knocking in Ty into me. I just thought some more respect could be had for guys who, like myself, were trying hard to earn a spot in the final 4. I thought we deserved a chance to race amongst ourselves and not have somebody else being there knocking cars around.”

Watch This Story: NASCAR fans savagely trash Denny Hamlin for wrecking himself at Sonoma.

That was how Hamlin’s unfortunate elimination unfolded. The championship drought continues for him as he’ll look forward to his usual objective again in 2024.