HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Denny Hamlin knew that his championship dreams were dashed after taking the green and white checkered flag to end stage 1 on Sunday, but that had little effect on his mood.
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He knew that he had given his all at Homestead-Miami Speedway after nine frustrating weeks. He had come to the track to have fun and contend for the win; he did just that.
He just didn't have the same Chase performance as three-time champion Kyle Larson, the man who won three times and posted an average finish of 7.3 during NASCAR's 10-week postseason. He couldn't overcome the 70-point deficit in one race.
"I feel good about it," Hamlin said after finishing third in the championship standings. "That was as competitive as we've been at this track in quite a few years.
"I knew it was over at the end of stage 1, but I still thought that we put together a pretty good race and gave ourselves a chance on those last few laps. It just didn't quite work out."
Hamlin kicked off the weekend by qualifying second for the must-win race. He finished sixth in stage 1 before winning stage 2. He led 87 laps while trying to score his fifth win of the season.
He fell short of this goal with a car that grew tighter on the long run, especially while in traffic. He hit the wall in Turns 3 and 4 in the closing laps, which knocked him out of contention for a top three finish.
Yet, he crossed the line sixth overall and capped off one of his best seasons. He posted four wins, 16 top-fives, 24 top-10s. These latter two numbers are his best marks of the Gen 7 era. He posted an average finish of 8.9, his best average since the 2021 season (8.4).
And while this standout season did not lead to his first championship, that doesn't mean that Hamlin left the track depressed.
He had a smile on his face at times while talking to media members on pit road instead of the 1,000-yard stare following the Phoenix Chase race in which he crossed the line 28th overall.
Nothing," Hamlin said when asked about his feelings in the wake of another near-miss. "I wish I could say it was something, but I can put a hand on a Bible and say I felt absolutely nothing."
Hamlin lost the 2026 championship battle, but he will have one more opportunity. He will be back in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE in 2027, the final year of his contract. He will have one more chance to finally capture that elusive title.
