After dominating Stages 1 and 2 and leading 159 laps, Hamlin watched his 60th career win slip away in the final lap after tangling with his own driver, Bubba Wallace. Instead of hoisting the trophy, Hamlin settled for P2 as Chase Elliott capitalized.

For Gordon, with 93 victories and four championships, that kind of heartbreak is all too familiar. His perspective cuts through the noise as fans dissect Hamlin’s aggressive playoff move and its costly fallout, drawing a painful parallel between two drivers who know exactly how it feels to let one get away.

Denny Hamlin’s heartbreak isn’t something new

In a post-race discussion on Cup Scene’s YouTube channel, Jeff Gordon opened up about the lingering agony of races lost due to personal missteps, drawing a direct line to Denny Hamlin’s frustrating finish at Kansas.

“I can’t remember many of the ones that I won, but I can tell you all the ones I lost,” Gordon shared, emphasizing how decisions like bad restarts or miscues haunt drivers when they’re “on your watch or in your hands.”

This reflection stems from Gordon‘s storied career, where, despite 93 Cup wins and titles in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001, setbacks like his 2015 Martinsville spring race speeding penalty occurred, where he confessed, “When it’s on you, it hurts.”

“And that’s the way I feel right now. I feel pain because we had a golden opportunity right there, and I ruined it for us,” leaving deep scars. Now, for Hamlin, who entered Kansas with 59 career victories and chasing Kevin Harvick‘s 60th, the parallel feels especially poignant after a race he dominated early on.

“I got really close to the 23. If I had to do it all over again, I think I’d run a little bit lower to allow a space between us so I don’t get so tight,” Denny Hamlin explained post-race, owning the desperation fueled by a poor pit stop that dropped him to sixth before the final push. This admitted error, against his own 23XI Racing co-owned car, not only cost Hamlin the win but also left Wallace in fifth, amplifying the regret in a playoff round where points are razor-thin.

Hamlin‘s P2 result, while strong on paper, masked a true missed opportunity, as his dominance. Had he not been grappling with the power steering issues since Lap 214, where he dove low into Turn 3 and made contact with teammate Bubba Wallace, he would be celebrating his legacy. But it was NASCAR’s most popular driver’s day.

Chase Elliott, restarting from eighth, claimed his 21st career win and secured a Round of 8 spot just 0.069 seconds ahead of Hamlin. And, Gordon didn’t shy away from pondering the what-ifs of the same, noting, “I don’t know what was going to happen there if Denny wrapped the bottom instead of, you know, kind of using Bubba up. But I still think Chase had a great shot at it just because of the new tires.”

For Chase Elliott, the wild double-overtime restart at Kansas was the break he needed. For Denny Hamlin, the win would have meant something deeper than just another trophy.

“I wanted it for my dad, for everybody. Just wanted it a little bit too hard,” Hamlin admitted afterward, his voice carrying the weight of another near-miss. He leaves Kansas still 48 points above the cutline heading into the Roval, but the sting is clear. One late squeeze against Bubba Wallace in Turn 4 opened the door for Elliott to slip by both Toyotas and steal the checkered flag on Lap 273, six laps beyond the scheduled distance. In the end, Hamlin ruined it for himself, an agony Jeff Gordon knows all too well.

Gordon, reflecting on his own missteps, sees more than heartbreak in moments like these. He points to the resilience of Hendrick Motorsports as proof that setbacks can shape champions.

The title comes from Hendrick’s garage

Jeff Gordon, in his chat, further highlighted Hendrick Motorsports‘ turnaround after a shaky playoff 12 start, pointing to improved execution as a key championship indicator.

“I think we saw in the first round that we didn’t execute very well, and it looked sloppy. And I just loved seeing what we did last week at New Hampshire. Fast race cars, solid execution all day on pit road, and choices on and off the racetrack,” Gordon said, crediting the team’s ability to deliver under pressure.

This came after early struggles, like at Atlanta and Watkins Glen, but strong showings at Bristol and New Hampshire rebuilt momentum, with all four drivers advancing past the Round of 12 opener. Chase Elliott’s Kansas triumph added fuel to that fire, as Gordon noted, “Obviously, this is a huge spark for the nine team.” Elliott’s charge from mid-pack on fresh tires exemplified the grit Gordon values, especially in a season where Hendrick claimed the regular-season crown.

Even amid setbacks, like William Byron‘s early Kansas trouble, Gordon saw positives: “The 24, you know, they were down way down the list…And came into it with a lot of points. And to see them fight through that. I feel like they’ve kind of been in championship form several times this season, winning the regular-season points. Today was uncharacteristic of them. But to see them fight back, that keeps the momentum on their side as well.”

In all, Gordon’s trust in HMS positions Hendrick for a deep run.