Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin is in the middle of his 20th attempt at capturing a Cup Series title. He could have taken a huge step in his journey on Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He was one of the frontrunners all day and pulled off an entertaining battle with William Byron. However, his luck and fuel ran out with around 30 laps left in the event.
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On his final scheduled pit stop, an issue with the second can of fuel left him with significantly less fuel than his competitors. He was running second at the time and was forced to pit from the top-five in the final laps. As a result, he could only collect a 16th-place finish. The driver expressed his disappointment to Prime Video in the aftermath.
He said, “You can’t change the result, you have to live with it. They’re the pros. I’m not a pit guy. We had a great car, and fun battling up front. It was a heck of a battle, would’ve loved to have seen it through, but we didn’t get enough gas in it and had to come back in.” Notably, he also mentioned that his crew chief had told him how no fuel came out of the second can.
Before the Coca-Cola 600, Hamlin had failed to finish inside the top-20 in three straight races. He was asked if his heightened performance at Charlotte was something he could build upon. He responded, “We have got a car capable of running up front every week. But we are not finishing very well.”
The driver finished 21st at Talladega and failed to finish at Texas and Kansas. With the 16th-place finish at Charlotte, it has been a pretty disappointing month for him. He said about his emotions, “I feel good about our performance. I feel crappy about how we finish. That’s been the story of the last month and not much has changed.”
Hamlin led 53 laps throughout the evening and earned 44 points in total. Had it not been for the woeful fourth stage, he could have potentially ended up as the winner.
Nonetheless, Hamlin already has two wins in his bag this season and his playoff spot is secure. Reaching Victory Lane more often from here is a matter of want and desire than need, at least till the playoffs begin.
It was Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain who ultimately won the day at Charlotte. His late push was enough to cast Byron into second place despite the Hendrick Motorsports driver being the most dominant driver of the day.
