Denny Hamlin was exactly where he wanted to be with two laps left at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leading the Straight Talk Wireless 400 and inching closer to a crucial playoff victory. But his hopes for the win slipped away in the final corners as Ryan Blaney charged ahead, followed by Hamlin’s own 23XI Racing co-owner Tyler Reddick, who passed him on the last lap to take second.
“I’m not really sure,” Hamlin reflected on the race’s intense final moments. “I tried to cover all lanes, but just couldn’t quite get off the corner as good as I needed to on that short run.” Hamlin, who restarted on the outside of the second row with seven laps to go, briefly surged into the lead, driving around Blaney and Reddick. However, Blaney used the inside line to pull even with Hamlin, overtaking him just as the laps wound down.
The No. 11 team played a strategic game all day, with crew chief Chris Gabehart opting for long green-flag runs, allowing Hamlin to maintain fresh tires for those critical long runs. The tactic paid off as Hamlin drove up through the field to win Stage 2 and position himself in the top three for the final stage.
In the end, however, the final caution with 13 laps to go erased Hamlin’s carefully-built lead, forcing a shootout with Reddick and Blaney for the win. “Chris gave me everything I needed there to try to race him,” Hamlin admitted. “Just didn’t get it done.”
While victory eluded him, Hamlin’s third-place finish brought him closer to a Championship 4 transfer spot. Reducing his deficit from 27 points to 18 heading into the elimination race at Martinsville, he remains focused: “It’s another opportunity. Certainly, you’re not out of it until they throw the checkered flag at Martinsville.”
With everything on the line, Hamlin heads to Martinsville with one last chance to clinch his place in the championship race.
