The NASCAR Cup race in Illinois proceeded with dramatic changes in the lead. Although Christopher Bell dominated most of the race, winning the first two stages, an engine failure towards the end blew up his ambition. The endgame, however, was a battle of the Fords, with Austin Cindric prevailing and handing Ford its first Cup win of the season. And even Denny Hamlin trailed close behind.

But apparently, it looks like the most appreciated driver on the track, Kyle Larson, still has not moved on from his Double heartbreak. Instead of being part of the lead exchange drama, Kyle Larson got entangled in a mid-race conflict. A conflict that further pushed back his chance to regain the point lead again.

Denny Hamlin holds tight to his spot

Last weekend, a tragedy unfolded in two places: Indianapolis and Charlotte. Kyle Larson was geared up to script history as the fifth driver ever to attempt the double. But the weather did not let him; a delayed Indy 500 deprived him of a timely Coca-Cola 600 start. Even after Larson reached Charlotte, further thunderstorms prevented him from turning laps. And to add to the misery, Larson’s Coca-Cola 600 replacement, Justin Allgaier, could not score points as he is a full-time Xfinity driver.

Hence, Mr. H’s driver lost his crown in the driver standings, giving way to Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Coming this weekend, Kyle Larson could not make the best of the Enjoy Illinois 300 race either, as a stage 2 crash with Kyle Busch snapped his winning chances. This resulted in Busch getting his first DNF of the season, and Larson somehow managed a P10 finish.

But Denny Hamlin prevailed strongly, as he followed Cindric to a runner-up finish. Post-race, Hamlin dissected his top-five run, thanking his team. He said, “Yeah, no, definitely not. Just a top-five car…you didn’t have the best today. But we were uh…the Yahoo Camry was in the mix. Obviously, we were able to capitalize when a couple of guys had some issues there. We were going to have a top-five day regardless. But proud of the team, great job on pit road, and Chris and the whole team…brought a good car, just not quite good enough.”

Denny Hamlin still leads the driver rankings, holding 492 stage points, while Kyle Larson, lags six points behind in 3rd place with 482 points. Oh well, we can only wish good things for our Indy-Coke star in future races. Besides, the Illinois race had boded well for Denny Hamlin last year, and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team expected a good result this time as well.

Hamlin with a good finish for the second time in a row

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Denny Hamlin was relegated to 34th place in a crash-riddled 2022 race at the World Wide Technology Raceway. But he rebounded to take the lead the following year. Starting third, Hamlin secured P3 in both stages. Then he ended up with a stellar runner-up result, falling behind winner Kyle Busch. On one hand, where the RCR driver could not maintain his streak this year, Denny Hamlin has, and it looks like the JGR driver’s been expecting this even before the race began.

In a pre-race interview with Speedway Digest, Hamlin spelled good fortune for the Enjoy Illinois 300. “This is going to be a track position race. From what we’ve seen with this car on this track, you’re going to have to qualify well and have a really good day in pit road to stay up front. I feel like it’s a good track for us, we were really strong last year and stayed in the top five all day. It’s just going to be super important to unload strong and get a good qualifying spot and a good pit stall to have a shot on Sunday.”

As it turned out, the No. 11 pit team stuck to their expectations, and Denny Hamlin attained a podium finish yet again.