Denny Hamlin was both embarrassed and lucky on the final lap of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Round of 12 finale on the Charlotte Roval. The embarrassed part is easy: he didn’t see Ross Chastain closing in on him, and Hamlin’s spotter never told him Chastain was approaching.
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Hamlin even tersely told crew chief Chris Gayle on pit road after the race, “I would not have passed him [Chastain, if he knew he was there].”
Then there’s the lucky part (well, for Hamlin, that is): Although Hamlin finished 23rd, while Chastain finished two spots ahead of him in 21st, and had it not been for all his wins and playoff points accumulated in the first 32 races, Hamlin may have missed out on what may be his best-ever chance of winning the championship.
Meanwhile, and even though his Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen won the race—no surprise there (SVG’s fifth road course win in six starts this season)—Chastain finished 21st but failed to earn enough points to qualify to advance to the Round of Eight, which begins next Sunday in Las Vegas.
Here’s How Hamlin Described the Incident With Chastain
Hamlin gave his point of view to the USA Network, saying he had no idea where Chastain was when the two made contact. Hamlin thought he had enough room to take the turn tight, not knowing Chastain was going for the same area of real estate that the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota was.
“No, I did not (know Chastain was so close),” Hamlin said. “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know if I was racing for 10th or 30th. I didn’t know anything about anything on that last run. I wasn’t very good. I know I missed my marks at times, just didn’t do a good job driving.
“I didn’t even hear anything from the spotter about closing or anything, so I didn’t know anything about anything going on. But obviously, the No. 1 was in a position there, and we got caught in it. I wish I would have known. The No. 1 was slipping; I was not great, but I’m like, this is another spot in the metric to move up for qualifying for next week. That was my motivation. I guess I was racing for about 18th or so [he actually wound up finishing 23rd but still advances to the next round].
“I don’t fault Ross at all. I just wish I knew so I could have been either prepared or made a different decision.”
