A strong run quickly faded after Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin spun in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series South Point Casino 400 at Las Vegas (NV) Motor Speedway.
The race strategy saw Hamlin give up the lead in his No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE to pit for fresh tires during the first caution of the race, for a spin by Zane Smith in turn four on Lap 45. The 45-year-old quickly climbed back up the running order to run third behind his teammates, Chase Briscoe, who eventually won the race, and Christopher Bell.
On Lap 78 Hamlin’s Toyota Camry broke loose and he spun in turn four. Although he kept the car out of the wall, the transition from the banking to the apron bent the splitter upwards. In addition to the spin, the Chesterfield, VA. native was forced to drag the underbody of his car at speed on flat spotted tires as NASCAR officials opted not to throw a caution with two laps remaining in the opening stage.
The problems compounded when under caution following the completion of the second stage Hamlin’s car lost fuel pressure. By the time the veteran driver’s car regained power he had lost 13 spots in the running order. The veteran driver attempted to contest his position, but NASCAR officials lined him up in 24th due to the failure to maintain speed under caution. After restarting 24th, Hamlin was only able to recover for a 16th-place finish over the caution-free final 96 laps of the race.
With only 22 points earned, it marked Hamlin’s worst performance in the revival of NASCAR’s Chase system. The Toyota driver admitted that his post-season run has not been smooth after five races.
“Not smooth, definitely not smooth,” Hamlin admitted. “We haven’t had any disastrous days but we certainly have had our fair share of not performing. Today, leaving points on the table. I tried to make up all the positions that we could. This car was very bad once I spun, probably knocked the splitter off, the bottom of the car was drugged off.”
The race started strong after Hamlin won the pole and led the opening lap. However, he continued the “Sin City” trend of drivers to lead the first lap in the Cup Series race at the Las Vegas, NV track and failed to go on to win the race.
Luckily for Hamlin, points leader Kyle Larson only scored one stage point throughout the entire race. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota did offset that one stage point by earning the bonus point for running the Xfinity Fastest Lap of the race. The Hendrick Motorsports driver did score a dramatic runner-up finish, increasing his points lead over Hamlin from 26 to 40 points.
“I (haven’t) really digested [the points situation] really, just got to play the ball from where it lies and where it lies is a gap that we’ve got to make up so we’ve got to perform at our best,” Hamlin said. “No idea [what happened with the fuel pressure] the car cut off.”
A return to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway presents the chance for Hamlin, crew chief Chris Gayle, and the No. 11 team to reset. The Bank of America 400 returns to the oval configuration for the first time in nine years. Hamlin has one win on the Charlotte oval, in the 2022 Coca-Cola 600. He finished third in the rain-shortened event earlier this year.
The Bank of America 400 at Charlotte starts Sunday, October 11, at 3 p.m. ET, live on USA Network, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.