MARTINSVILLE, Va: When Denny Hamlin took the white flag in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver look assured the final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway next weekend, but a bonsai move on the final corner of the race by Ross Chastain knocked Hamlin out of the final spot.
With two laps to go, Hamlin passed William Byron for fifth and held a two-point advantage over Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team but with the idea to “send it” – Chastain held his car wide open and rode the Turn 3 and 4 wall all the way to the frontstretch passing five cars along the way and edging Hamlin at the checkered flag.
The move paid off for Chastain who edged ahead by four points, but it also left a dejected Hamlin out of an opportunity to earn a NASCAR Cup Series title yet again.
Now, Hamlin will invade Phoenix and eye his third win of the season and look to become the first driver not in the Championship 4 to win the Cup Series season-finale.
Before the last lap unfolded – it appeared Hamlin and his Chris Gabehart-led team were the car to beat in the early stages of the Xfinity 500.
Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry was super strong, rotating well and in complete control of the race.
In a relatively calm opening two stages, Hamlin won both and earned the maximum 20 stage points to aid him in his effort to get to Phoenix.
However, Hamlin’s race began to untangle in Stage 3.
Despite leading the field back to green and in control of the race, three separate pit stops on pit road eventually eliminated him from contending for the win and instead left him in a fierce battle with Chastain for the final transfer spot.
The first of three hiccups occurred on Lap 323, when he lost three spots. That moved Hamlin from the race lead to nestled inside the top-five but with passing at a premium on Sunday, Hamlin sat stuck until the next caution waved on Lap 395 for a spin by JJ Yeley in Turn 4.
A couple more positions lost on pit road left him in a precarious for the restart.
Slowly but surely working his way back through the field and hovered inside the top-five until the final caution waved with 32 laps to go.
A 14.5-second pit stop because a problem with the left front tire put Hamlin in a hole for the restart with 24 laps to go.
Restarting 12th and with Ross Chastain ahead of him, a balanced race car allowed Hamlin after some beating and banging to eventually clear Chastain and set his sights on re-entering the top-10 with 20 laps left in the race.
Over the course of the final laps of the race, Hamlin was able to continue to inch his way back into the top-10 and had muscled back inside the top-five until Chastain’s last lap decision.
Hamlin though admitted after the race, they gave the race win away.
“You got to execute all day,” Hamlin said after the race. “We just didn’t control the race when we had control of it. Each caution we just kept losing some spots. That’s the way it is.
“But thank Chris Gabehart, the whole FedEx Camry team for giving me a fast car today. It was unbelievable when it was out front.”
While Hamlin acknowledged that they gave the race away with their issues on pit road, he offered praise for his teammate Christopher Bell who for a second time in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs advanced to the most pivotal rounds with walk-off victories at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Road Course and again Sunday at Martinsville.
“Yeah, just couldn’t quite hang on to it there on pit road,” Hamlin added. “But congrats to Chris(topher Bell), those guys just did an amazing job, really capitalizing and doing well, winning races when they needed to.
“Hopefully they can carry the banner for us.”
Despite the outcome of Sunday’s race, Hamlin believed he did not leave anything on the line knowing what was at stake, including the late race bumps and shoves with Chastain.
“We’re trying to battle,” he said. “Obviously, I was trying to get in there. But it’s racing. It’s what racing is here as Martinsville. Actually, pretty happy with somewhat how clean it was there towards the end, as crazy was it was with guys on different tires.
“Can’t say enough for my team to give us a shot. We were in 20s (in points) for most of the season in our points because of our up-and-down execution.
“We’re going to end up fifth in points. That is what it is.”
When asked about Chastain’s move, Hamlin quickly replied, “Great move. Brilliant. Certainly, a great move. When you have no other choice, it certainly is easy to do that. But well executed.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
