The NASCAR Grand Slam continues to elude Denny Hamlin. He missed out on the Brickyard 400 win once again despite having a front row position on the final restart.
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The veteran from Virginia made his 18th career start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. He started fifth while attempting to win the only crown jewel missing from his collection.
He finished fifth despite restarting on the front row. Meanwhile, Corey Heim scored the win for 23XI Racing and locked up his first crown jewel.
As a reminder, the races viewed as crown jewels in NASCAR are the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, and Brickyard 400.
The situation fell apart for Hamlin as the field took the green flag with 35 laps remaining in the race. Heim lined up with Joey Logano behind him. Hamlin had Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe behind him.
The three Joe Gibbs Racing all made contact coming to the green flag, but Hamlin had to play it safe to avoid a restart violation. Once Heim accelerated, Hamlin followed suit.
However, Logano's push proved to be the difference maker as it shot Heim clear of Hamlin. The part-time driver then dove to the bottom of the track and took the lead from his boss in Turn 2.
Heim never looked back as he led the rest of the way to the checkered flag. Bell moved into second and Logano moved into third. Hamlin fell to fifth behind Briscoe, and he spent the rest of the race trying to figure out how to get back into contention for the win.
Yet, this was not possible at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track where nothing is more important than track position and clean air.
"Yeah, everyone is trying to fight to win the race," Hamlin said after the race. "When you're clear by an inch, you're going to take that inch. It's really more on us and the 20 (Christopher Bell) and the 19 (Chase Briscoe) of just not orchestrating good pushes there.
"We came detached at the wrong time. I thought the 20 obviously was on board with getting us the push. It was way too early before the restart zone. I can't go till we get to the restart zone. He said that Briscoe was on him way, way early or laying back, one of the two. Yeah, that's how you lose them."
This became an all-too familiar feeling for Hamlin, who still bumped his lead in the regular-season standings to 84 points.
The veteran driver has three Daytona 500 wins in his career. He has one Coca-Cola 600 win, and he has three Southern 500 wins.
Hamlin has come close to winning the Brickyard 400 many times before. He has finished third three times, most recently in 2025 as he drove a backup car to a podium finish.
Back in 2020, Hamlin had the lead with seven laps remaining at the 2.5-mile track. Suddenly, he blew a tire and slammed into the outside wall. His Toyota caught fire. He finished 28th while Kevin Harvick won.
Hamlin made a strategy move before overtime in 2024. He came down pit road for fresh tires and fuel. This could have set him up to gain crucial track position while other drivers ran out of fuel. Instead, he was collected in a crash involving several other cars.
"This is one I've been searching to win all of my career," Hamlin said before making his 18th start in the crown jewel race. "I would value this win as much as any in my career."
With Hamlin falling short of the win once again, he now most likely only has one more opportunity. He will return to the Cup Series for the 2027 season, but the expectation is that he will retire after that.
If he misses out on the win next season, he will end his career having failed to check off an important bucket list item.
