The 2024 Cup Series season is shaping up to be Denny Hamlin’s closest chance at turning his championship hopes into reality. With that being said, the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver hasn’t just been finding success as a driver, but also as a team owner. 23XI Racing kickstarted the year strong, eventually bringing home their first win of the season at Talladega with Tyler Reddick behind the wheel.

Heading into the Goodyear 400, Reddick was expected to make good on his pole position. Which he did for a solid 174 laps. Unfortunately, as Buescher’s #17 Mustang Darkhorse tussled with Reddick’s #45 for the lead, all hell broke loose. In the aftermath, Reddick’s dominant day at Darlington came to a rather ‘lackluster’ end. A word Denny Hamlin also used to describe his result.

Denny Hamlin sympathizes with Tyler Reddick’s fate

For Denny Hamlin, Darlington was quite the opposite of what he expected. After having a car capable of winning at almost every track since the season started, the #11 Camry XSE finally slowed its march. At the end of the Goodyear 400, Hamlin missed out on the action between Reddick, Buescher, and Keselowski as the #11 just couldn’t keep up. Even his fourth-place finish was partly gifted to him by Buescher and Reddick’s wreck.

Naturally, the #11 JGR driver felt Darlington was bittersweet. Reflecting on his own misery, Hamlin shared with FrontStretch, “The front end really really hurt the potential of the car. Definitely hurt it in the short and long run, but we just, on that super-long run, just migrated a little too free and it was just a very lackluster day for us.”

After winning four times and leading in 17 of 23 races at the track, that’s Too Tough to Tame, Hamlin felt that the #11 just couldn’t match Tyler Reddick and the others. Speaking of which, Hamlin sympathized with 23XI Racing’s heartbreak. With 174 laps in the lead, no driver deserved to win as much as Tyler Reddick, as this was a major indicator of 23XI Racing stepping up their game.

Compared to Reddick’s earlier 131 laps led, the #45 garage had more than doubled that statistic in just one race. Hamlin commended the crew, “I mean certainly, they dominated the day. It looked like they really reaped the benefits. The pit crew did a great job of keeping them upfront all day long, and his car was obviously very fast as well. It’s always frustrating when you lead a lot and you feel like you should win. I’ve done that a couple of times this year, that’s just the way it works”

But at the end of the day, Denny Hamlin couldn’t help but reflect on his lost opportunity at the win. Only this time around, it wasn’t owing to another driver’s error. He concluded, “But yeah, just more bummed about the below-average day that the #11 had.” 

Whilst it’s safe to say Denny Hamlin certainly didn’t have the day he hoped for at Darlington, the #11 ran strong enough to maintain one major streak.

Hamlin and the #11 make the most of Darlington as his dominant form continues

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Before heading into Darlington, Denny Hamlin was on a streak that only the most competent drivers could dream of. As he inches closer to Rusty Wallace’s 11th spot on the all-time win list with just one victory left, it’s safe to say Hamlin’s form for the past two seasons certainly makes attaining higher spots a possibility. That being said, Denny Hamlin saved his 16-race lead-lap streak.

That’s right. Since the Las Vegas round of 8 race, Denny Hamlin has put the #11 JGR Camry XSE in the lead for at least one lap in each race. But with how the Goodyear 400 was unfolding, it looked like this streak would last for much longer. But with a single lap in the lead, Hamlin was able to save the impressive statistic and keep it climbing.

Naturally, with how his form has been of late, Hamlin felt he could have gotten the win if the car was faster. Still, the driver realized that not every race ends the same. He stated, “If this is as bad as we can run, you know, then I’ll take it. It’s like the crew chief said, you’re not going to have the fastest car every single week. And we certainly didn’t today. We didn’t even have a top-five car.”

Although Hamlin felt he didn’t have a car capable of making it into the podium places, the #11 driver gave his props to the pit crew for managing to bring in a top-five. Whilst the #11 did capitalize on others’ shortcomings, the consistent points tally will definitely help Hamlin in the long run.