Denny Hamlin finally put together a good road course race Sunday, and the effort keeps him in contention for the regular-season championship.
The runner-up finish for the No. 11 team is their best result on a road course in the Next Gen car. Hamlin started the day from the pole — his third road course pole of the season — and knocked 21 points off teammate Martin Truex Jr.’s championship lead.
“I’m happy about our run,” Hamlin said of coming up short to William Byron. “We cut into the lead a little bit, so [we’ll] just try to make it interesting as we can.”
In his post-race interview, Hamlin was quick to remember the 25 points he lost earlier this year and lightheartedly suggested needing to talk NASCAR into giving them back. He was penalized for comments made on his Actions Detrimental podcast about wrecking Ross Chastain intentionally at Phoenix Raceway.
Only Truex and Hamlin are left in contention for the regular-season championship, which awards 15 playoff points. Next weekend’s race at Daytona will set the playoff grid.
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“I’m happy with our performance,” Hamlin said. “I’ve been qualifying well in the Next Gen on road courses, but I hadn’t been able to put together an entire race…and I think today was the first time I did.”
An 11th-place finish in early July on the Chicago street course was Hamlin’s benchmark of a good day in the Next Gen car. The strategy flipped for some of the leaders when NASCAR called an early finish because of diminishing daylight on a day when Hamlin felt good running on a dry track but wasn’t as fast in the wet.
Sunday at the Glen, the No. 11 led the first three laps from the pole before being overtaken by Michael McDowell. McDowell was aggressive from the start, and it took Hamlin time to work up his pace.
Although he averaged a running position of second throughout the afternoon, Hamlin never regained the lead. He finished third in the first stage and second in the second stage.
“I was able to string together competitive laps…” Hamlin said, “I just gave up track position a little bit early and that was it.”
Byron’s margin of victory on Hamlin was over 2.5s — a gap that steadily grew after the final round of pit stops. Hamlin acknowledged he had nothing for the No. 24 even when they were closer on the track.
“No, he deserved the win,” Hamlin said. “I think when I started getting close he would hammer down a little bit more, so I think he probably had a little bit more in reserve, but passing was real difficult.”