By Matt Courson, Staff Writer
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Denny Hamlin will once again leave Homestead-Miami Speedway defeated in his quest for his first ever Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.
2019 marks the fourth year in which Hamlin had a realistic shot at winning the title. He stated after the race that this is ‘probably not’ one of the toughest defeats because he did everything he could.
“I don’t think I could have done a better job,” Hamlin said after the race. “I don’t think I could have — I didn’t leave anything out there. So for the first half of the race we just weren’t fast enough, we weren’t handling very good, and all of a sudden it went nighttime and we took off, and suddenly I perked up and got a little more and was thinking that we’ve got a chance.”
Hamlin was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop with under 50 to go after experiencing an unusual high engine temperature. It was discovered that the team was overly aggressive in adding tape to the grill which caused the temperature to rise unexpectedly.
All the No. 11 team could hope for was a yellow flag to come out that would ultimately bunch the field back up. That never happened.
“I mean, you always would like to live to race another lap,” said Hamlin. “Obviously if you have to come back down pit road, it’s pretty much over. But even — I think we had nailed — with the other two guys running long on their strategy, we were going to be second no matter what, and just a stone’s throw from the 18.
“So a caution could come out, we’ve got the No. 1 pit stall. We can beat them off pit lane. There’s always an opportunity until the checkered falls, anything can happen.”
Hamlin entered Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 with momentum on his side after claiming victory at ISM Raceway last weekend while in a ‘must-win’ situation.
The Virginia native was even awarded the Busch Pole award after rain washed out both practice sessions on Friday, forcing NASCAR to cancel qualifying and replace the session with a practice session.
But Hamlin didn’t even lead the first lap. In fact, it would not be until lap 168 in which Hamlin would lead two laps during a green flag pit cycle. But Hamlin’s car seemed to come to life as the sun set over the 1.5-mile speedway.
The driver remains confident taking his momentum into the 2020 racing season.
“I just am really excited with the group that we have, what we can do next year and get another shot at it,” Hamlin said. “It’s definitely not a do-or-die situation. It’s going to be okay, and we’re going to be strong, and I guarantee you it’s going to motivate Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) even more than what he already is.”