Denny Hamlin spins himself out from 2nd place to raucous applause from Michigan crowd

As the end of Stage 1 approached, Denny Hamlin was chasing Bubba Wallace for the lead and lost control, spinning into the infield. This NASCAR race has plenty of time left, but this could be detrimental.

Denny Hamlin was coming up the frontstretch when he lost control, got loose, and went around. To his credit, Hamlin missed the wall which will likely save him further headaches.

Bubba Wallace was leading at the time, but the leaders chose to come to pit road for tires and fuel after this caution flag.

The No. 11 gets loose and goes for a slide through the grass! 😳 pic.twitter.com/6MGezIVr4A

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 18, 2024

The start of the race was a real battle between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin. Bubba Wallace took the lead when Hamlin and Larson were racing side-by-side, diving deep into Turn 1, Wallace made it stick and took control.

After spinning, Hamlin keyed up his radio to apologize to his team.

“Sorry about that Chris [Gabeheart] F**k, I should have taken what I had,” Hamlin was heard saying by Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut.

“Yeah, we still had time but we make mistakes and move on,” the veteran crew chief replied.

Denny Hamlin is probably just hoping he can get back to racing today. The rain has returned. This could be a long wait, and maybe even result in the race being postponed until Monday when it will resume. No official word on that yet.

Denny Hamlin spins before end of Stage 1

With Denny spinning, it allowed pit stops to happen. Only a few drivers stayed out at the end of Stage 1. Ryan Blaney was one of those drivers, hoping to bank a playoff point with a stage win. William Byron stayed out as well.

As we continue to have the bubble battle for the playoffs, the stage points are so important. Bubba Wallace was able to make it back in front of Chris Buescher, both drivers fighting for the same spots in the playoffs, even after he pitted.

While we got to see the first stage, Stage 2 did not begin before rain moved back in. Red flag came out, cars went down pit road, and the fans were preparing for the rain to fall once again.

Denny Hamlin has an opportunity to get back in the front of this race. However, the race has to actually start again for that opportunity to arise. Let’s hope the rain moves through quickly and we are back to racing tonight.