Denny Hamlin 'happy' about season despite failing to make Championship 4

Only two spots were open coming into the Martinsville race, and Denny Hamlin was not able to claim either one of them. Hamlin, after the race, didn’t seem upset. He reflected on his NASCAR season as a whole and believes that it was a good year for his No. 11 JGR team.

This race just got to the point where Denny Hamlin had to win. The only issue was Ryan Blaney had a fast car and was driving through traffic like a madman. Despite winning Stage 1, coming in second for Stage 2, and third overall – Hamlin is out of the playoffs.

After the race, Hamlin spoke to Parker Kligerman. His season would come down to one race, Homestead-Miami, and a mechanical failure. William Byron had too much of a points cushion going into Martinsville.

“Ultimately that mechanical failure last week with the power steering,” Hamlin said in his postrace comments. “That was – that sealed our fate. But really proud of this FedEx Toyota team for showing up today when we really needed to and having a probably mid-50 point day. They did great, they did absolutely great. You know, the 12-car was the best car today, so congrats to them and all the final four that made it, they are all deserving it’s going to be a great show next week.

“I hate we’re not in it, for sure with our FedEx Camry but man, we definitely, I was happy with the performance we had today and really all around. It’s just in the Round of 8 you can’t have one bad week and unfortunately, a mechanical failure takes us from running really well to in the 30s and that’s it.”

It’s now been two years since Denny Hamlin made the Championship 4.

Denny Hamlin wants to win Phoenix next week

So, with his championship quest coming to an end, Denny Hamlin is set on a new goal. Getting a win before the season ends. If he can win Phoenix then he will be able to end the season on a high note at the very least.

His championship aspirations over, Hamlin also gave credit to Blaney and his team for the win.

“Man I just want to get ready and try to go win next week. I still love it so much because every week I feel I’ve got a shot to win and that’s what fuels my passion. Even at my age to keep doing this is that I’m with the team that I’ve got that gives me such fast cars every week and gives me a chance to continue to piling onto those stats before the end of my career. And it’s not over by any means, we’ve got a long way to go.

“I’m really happy about the year in general I thought [we were] substantially faster this year at all race tracks than what we were last year. But it’s racing, right? This is the playoffs you’ve got a three-race season, the 12 car showed up this round, right? So he deserves to be in that final four and with the performance they had today it was phenomenal. I’m just happy for these guys and one more week.”

Denny Hamlin felt like this was his year to win the championship. One power steering failure in the Round of 8. That’s all it took and he was put into a corner he just couldn’t get out of.

This year we didn’t have a Hail Melon and there didn’t need to be one. The race wasn’t the most exciting, but we now have our Championship 4 for Phoenix.