I rarely criticize NASCAR officials. I readily acknowledge they know the sport – at least from a technical standpoint – better than I do.

HOWEVER! (And those capital letters and exclamation mark are for emphasis!) ………

Denny Hamlin had Sunday’s Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway won. With less than two laps left, and even with Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell close, there’s no doubt in my mind Hamlin would have taken the checkered flag for the second time this season and 62nd time in his NASCAR Cup career.

The race had been caution-free through the first 265-plus laps, but it was far from a boring dash around the 1.5-mile oval. There was great strategy, excellent passing, and plenty of action to keep fans of most race teams paying close attention either in-person or watching on TV.

It also proved you didn’t need cautions to make a race interesting.

That is, until Lap 266 … and when NASCAR threw a caution way too quickly, ultimately costing Hamlin the win and rewarding pole sitter Tyler Reddick with the checkered flag.

Just as Hamlin, Reddick, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell passed by, Cody Ware – or as some Denny Hamlin fans might be bitterly calling Cody (EXPLETIVE) Ware – spun coming out of Turn 4 and right in front of the entrance to pit road.

It was a totally unnecessary spin on Ware’s spot. He was in last place (which is also where he finished), and was six laps behind the lead lap. There really was no good reason or explanation for why Ware spun, but he quickly recovered from his spin – actually, it was more of a semi-spin – and immediately drove right onto pit road.

Only four cars were even directly impacted by Ware’s spin – Hamlin, Reddick (who was racing literally on fumes, to boot), Larson and Bell – and they all got past Ware with none even being close to him at the time of the spin.

So why would NASCAR throw a caution if only four drivers came even remotely close to Ware – when in actuality they weren’t that close to begin with? That’s where NASCAR made a big mistake.

Hamlin was in the lead and maybe 500 feet from taking the white flag when NASCAR called the caution – a call that never should have been made because Ware had already made it onto pit road, with no other cars being in harm’s way.

Even Michael Jordan threw his hands up and covered his face when he heard that Reddick had run out of gas with two laps left. But the resulting caution following Ware’s spin allowed Reddick to coast into the pits for two tires and a quick splash of gas, and he quickly exited right behind Hamlin (who also took two right side rubber and a splash of gas).

As the race resumed to a green-white-checker overtime finish, Larson jumped to the front, then Reddick passed Hamlin and made a great power move past Larson, ultimately continuing to make history for both himself and 23XI Racing, becoming only the fourth driver in NASCAR Cup history to win five of the first nine races of a season, and the first since Dale Earnhardt did so in 1987.

That means Reddick has now won nearly 60% of the season’s first quarter of the 36-race schedule. While unlikely, if Reddick is able to keep up this pace, he would finish the season with a modern-day record of 20 Cup race wins.

Hamlin, who led a race-high 131 laps, meanwhile, finished a miserable fourth. And not surprisingly, while the veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver obviously could have said more – and probably thrown in a few choice words – about Ware’s malaprop, but he tried to remain gentlemanly, all things considered.

When FOX Sports reporter Jamie Little asked Hamlin if this was “the most frustrated and heartbroken that I’ve ever seen you before” and “what was the most frustrating part of those closing laps,” Hamlin got his point across about Ware, and to his credit even did so with clean language.

“I mean, obviously it’s not winning,” a somber Hamlin mumbled. “It’s Cody Ware, six laps down wrecking. I don’t know. It just added up.

“I feel for the same move that the 5 (Larson) got me a couple years ago when I was on the inside (the same kind of move that allowed Reddick to pass Hamlin on the second-to-last overtime lap). I’ve got to learn from those mistakes that I make, not executing those last few laps.”

Did Reddick deserve to win at Hamlin’s cost? Did NASCAR make a mistake in throwing the caution flag? It’s likely going to be something fiercely debated around water coolers and on smoke breaks on Monday.