Denny Hamlin is one name from whom fans were expecting a lot. A two-decade-long dream of seeing him lift the championship trophy has been long coming. But what happens when despite inching close enough, he simply seems to lose the grip? 

With only three laps remaining to make a stellar impact, Hamlin ended the race with a 3rd position ranking only. In a matter of seconds, what seemed to be under his control changed and he yet again lost another chance to mark his presence at the Top 4. 

Hamlin Marks Another Disappointing Move at Homestead Miami 

Currently, Hamlin sits 18 points below the cutline. It would be safe to say that he is at a juncture where elimination seems to be right at his doorstep. The only way he can make it to the top 4 is by either winning at Martinsville or toppling Kyle Larson in points, who is 11 points ahead of him. Right when he was almost there, Ryan Blaney made a blazing entry and took over him at Turn 3 and Turn 4. Although Hamlin took the lead over the final restart with seven laps to go, it just didn’t seem to be enough. He restarted just outside of the second town and drove mostly around Blaney and Reddick when going into Turn 1. 

Although Hamlin did exit the pits still in second, Reddick remained on the track to take the lead. This ensured that Reddick ended up lifting the victory trophy with glory. Reacting to his victory, Hamlin said, “Certainly it was kind of resigned to the fact that finishing third there with before the caution and certainly when we got to the restart that we needed. You know I was thinking I would be strong enough to hold them off but for whatever reason, couldn’t do it”.

Although Hamlin has further bridged the gap for the scores from – 27 to -18, it is not very good news for his fans. Since his last victory at the Dover Motor Speedway for the Wurth 400 in April, Hamlin has not been able to manage a single victory. If he continues to finish without a victory at Martinsville, the Joe Gibbs driver will go into the 21st year without a Cup Series Championship victory.

To enhance the chances of Hamlin making it count at Homestead, his crew chief Chris came to the rescue. He ran Hamlin long on the green flag fuel runs. This ensured that Hamlin was out in the middle of the top 10. He was also given fresh tires so that one could easily make up for the difference in the long run. In Stage 2, Hamlin could win the stage as he drove through the field. He applied a similar strategy in Stage 3 and this. Hamlin did not fit until there were only 39 laps to go.

However, he soon found himself in a dearth of 18 seconds and 25 laps to go. With 22 laps remaining, Hamlin was running in sixth place. Consequently, he then advanced to fourth with 17 laps to go. As the pit cycle played out, Hamlin moved up to third, with Reddick on a similar strategy. Reddick was trailing by about six seconds. A final caution came with 13 laps left, pushing Hamlin into second place as he entered pit road.

Is Hamlin not ecstatic about 23XI’s entry to the top 4?

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It seems as though the difficulty of maintaining a dichotomy about being an owner and driver for separate teams has finally hit Hamlin. Tyler Reddick from the 23XI team made it to the Top 4 after he emerged victorious during the Homestead Miami Speedway battle. Towards the last couple of laps, it was also seen Hamlin and Reddick were in a fiasco that was indeed nail-biting. However, Reddick marked the final position.

Although Hamlin hasn’t been able to make it to the Top 4 as a driver, he has certainly made it as a proud 23XI team owner. In a recent interview with Bob Pockrass about how he feels as an owner, the Joe Gibbs driver opened up. He said, “I mean, I don’t know. Mentally, you can’t really put yourself in that place quite yet. Still soaking in kind of the driver side of things, but certainly happy for the team.”

The comments come as a stark opposite reaction to something that Hamlin had mentioned recently when asked about whether he could maintain the balance. Hamlin had said, “I truly believe I’ve got two chances at a championship [as a driver and as an owner], and either one is really going to make me happy this year”. However, as luck seems to have it, Hamlin’s only option now is to win at Martinsville.