Denny Hamlin is no stranger to championship heartbreaks. Ever since he made his debut in 2005, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran has narrowly fallen short of winning the Cup Series title on several occasions. However, the outcome at Homestead-Miami must have been particularly painful, especially because the 43-year-old ran one of his best races at the 2024 Straight Talk Wireless 400. With the stakes higher than ever, the Florida native has just one more opportunity to keep his title hopes alive at Martinsville Speedway.

Reflecting on the penultimate Round of Eight playoff race, Hamlin conceded that he was outperformed by rival and defending champion Ryan Blaney in the closing laps, which ended up costing him a potential victory.

Hamlin self-critical after the Homestead-Miami outcome

Homestead-Miami hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Denny Hamlin. The veteran racing driver has seen his championship hopes eliminated on the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway thrice before but was hoping to break that streak this time around. Having led 21 laps and winning a stage for the first time since Brickyard 400, the signs were looking good for Hamlin going into the final restart with just seven laps to go. As luck would have it, he claimed the lead when the race went green and stormed into Turn 2. What could go wrong? As it turns out, everything,

Reflecting on the events that occurred in the closing laps, Denny Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast, “I was really vulnerable throughout the day on restarts by cars that were making time on the bottom, and I just was not able to make it. I tried it in three and four quite a few times and when I did, I came off the corner wheel, cut to the left, checking up on the exit, and then you get swarmed by three cars pretty quickly.” 

Despite leading the race with just two laps remaining, Hamlin couldn’t defend his advantage and was forced to concede the lead to Ryan Blaney. Giving credit where it’s due, the 43-year-old said, “He (Blaney) just was better than me running the bottom. He got to the bottom, hit the gas, kept going left.” Eventually, neither driver made it to Victory Lane as Tyler Reddick made a late charge, overtaking the Joe Gibbs Racing driver effortlessly and flying around the Team Penske driver in Turns 3 and 4 to secure the win.

With the final playoff race remaining at Martinsville Speedway, it’s now or never for Denny Hamlin. As things stand, he is sixth in the driver standings, 18 points below the elimination cutline going into the 2024 Xfinity 500. The shortest track on the Cup Series calendar will present a whole new set of challenges for the 43-year-old, who could struggle to make passes in the high-stakes race.

Denny Hamlin’s crew chief remains optimistic

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Denny Hamlin has had quite a topsy-turvy playoff campaign, hasn’t he? After a disappointing start to the postseason, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver somehow managed to claw his way into the Round of Eight thanks to some clutch performances. Despite showing glimpses of his early season form, particularly at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 43-year-old has largely been lackluster during the business end of the season, until the race at Homestead-Miami.

The veteran finished third in the penultimate playoff race, his best result since finishing runner-up at Richmond Raceway during the regular season. Despite the odds stacked against him to progress into Championship 4, his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, remains positive about his chances. He said, “We’re not where we want to be but we’re certainly within striking distance. 18 behind at Martinsville. You won’t know until you get into the race for a lot of degrees. So, you know we’re all on offense. You know the two in front of us have got some defense to play and I’d rather be on offense in this situation.”

If there’s any driver who can pull off a result when it matters the most, it’s Denny Hamlin. The veteran almost secured a victory in last year’s iteration of Xfinity 500, only for Ryan Blaney to beat him to the checkered flag. If his performance at Homestead-Miami is anything to go by, the 43-year-old remains close to the top of his game, but doubts are beginning to settle in about how long will he be able to maintain this level. Hamlin turns 44 on November 18th, and if he doesn’t make his way above the cutline at Martinsville, it would be his third consecutive season outside the Championship 4.

Is time running out for Denny Hamlin to win the elusive Cup Series title? Let us know in the comments!