The playoff curse is back haunting Denny Hamlin at the road course of Watkins Glen International. After a bitter end to his start of the playoffs at Atlanta, the veteran driver is now finding it hard to navigate his way through the turns at the Glen.

At the Quaker State 400, after a failed strategy on his part, Hamlin found himself caught up in a multi-car incident triggered by Chase Elliott, who had been running well until a bizarre handling issue during a pit stop. On the final lap, Elliott’s car bumped into Ross Chastain, causing a chain reaction that involved several others, including Hamlin. Despite the turmoil, Hamlin blamed external factors for the mess rather than his own strategy.

However, Hamlin did hint that the car could be out of control at times when he said, “I think that the reason we didn’t have these massive pile-ups really is that you had to keep distance between you and the car in front of you or behind you because your car was just out of control.”

Now, as NASCAR is headed to Watkins Glen, Denny Hamlin definitely needs a clean and solid points day, but for some reason, the #11 team can’t seem to keep themselves away from trouble. It is well known that the 2.45-mile road course is a tricky venue, especially with the changes made to the racetrack. Going into the practice run, Denny Hamlin misjudged a corner and locked his tires, causing him to spin and slide across the racing surface. Trying his best to overcome the spin, Hamlin overcorrected and went off the track, hitting hard on the brakes.

It was indeed a close call for the driver, who missed the walls and managed to keep his car from incurring any damage. Denny Hamlin started at the tail end of the field for unapproved adjustments after a dismal qualification. Fortunately, the JGR driver was able to recover from this mishap and was able to complete his practice run inside the top 5 places.

Here’s a video of the spin as shared on NASCAR’s official account on X.

However, the mere slip from Denny Hamlin was enough for the race fans to get on his case. Soon a barrage of messages flooded social media, questioning Hamlin’s credibility as a playoff driver. Some even predicted a detrimental outcome after the end of the first round in the playoffs.

Playoff trouble continues for Denny Hamlin and the #11 team

Given the strong start the veteran driver had to his 2024 campaign with three wins, there was this feeling about him breaking his duck to win the title. However, since the mid-season Olympic break, Hamlin has turned the corner for the worse. Forget about competing for wins, he has found himself getting caught up in a wreck or running at the tail end of the field in his last three races. Given his reputation, even the simplest of mistakes lead to massive outrage, and this was evident from this fan’s reaction. “Still his year?”

It is so close, but so far has often been the case for Hamlin during his playoff run. This playoff season has just started, however, if we are to take into account his wins in last season’s playoffs, Denny Hamlin made a strong statement in the Bristol playoff race. Not just this, Hamlin dominated the night, leading 142 laps and the final 135 of the 500-lap race, securing a 2.437-second win over Kyle Larson. His win was part of a 4-race streak of top-five finishes that propelled him to second place in the playoff standings. Therefore, not able to achieve that, this fan wasn’t surprised to see Hamlin feeling the nerves this time around. “Playoff Hamlin is doing Playoff Hamlin things.”

“Man, this is rough. What has happened to the 11 team since that engine rebuild penalty,” wrote another fan. Clearly, Denny Hamlin isn’t responsible for everything. Just before the start of the playoffs, NASCAR issued L2 penalties on the #11 team for violating engine inspection guidelines. This resulted in the docking of 75 owner and driver points, and they also lost out on those crucial 10 bonus points. This certainly was the start of his dismal run, and since then they haven’t managed to bounce back.

Other than the penalty, Denny Hamlin also received a lot of heat last week after making a controversial remark on Kyle Petty’s assessment of his Atlanta race. The JGR driver argued that his strategy to run back intentionally was based on data and analytics. “So, data and analytics, while I understand it wasn’t around back in his (Kyle Petty) day, it is now, and if you’re not using it, then you’re a dinosaur.” And it did come to bite him in the back, as a NASCAR fan wrote, “The analytics told him to just ride in the back and spin out.”

Just 2 points above the cutline and his buffer of the bonus points was chalked off by NASCAR! Hamlin is indeed in a tight spot.

However, one good race could keep him afloat in the playoffs, while a subpar outing might lead to his exit. He does have two races to overturn his fortunes, but this fan wasn’t optimistic about his playoff run. “he might end up being a first round exit this year.”

Given that one of the upcoming two races is at Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin’s chances to advance to the next round are open. But a solid run at Watkins Glen would only help his cause.