Bad luck cancels out fast car for Hamlin – again

Denny Hamlin made it to the finish for the first time in a NASCAR Cup Series in the month of May, but once again, there were troubles along the way.

Hamlin finished 16th in the Coca-Cola 600, but he was running third when he had to pit for fuel. The team was done in because the second fuel can, for a reason that has not yet been diagnosed, did not release the needed fuel into Hamlin’s Toyota on what should have been their final pit stop inside 50 laps to go.

“We were really fast,” Hamlin said. “I would have loved to see that battle through, but obviously, once they told me I was short on fuel, at that point I had to stop chasing the [No.] 24 because I wasn’t going to risk getting in the fence when I’m too short on fuel.”

The victory was shaping up as a battle between William Byron, Hamlin, and Ross Chastain. Byron and Hamlin, who were running first and second, pitted together on lap 349, and Byron beat Hamlin off pit road and then quickly gapped him as they came up to speed and blended back onto the racetrack.

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Chastain came on strong in the final stage and then pitted two laps longer than expected because of a miscommunication. But it gave him a bit of fresher tire to then chase down and pass Hamlin, who was managing at that point, for second place with 26 laps to go.

Hamlin had to pit with 12 laps to go. A caution would have helped his cause because it would have brought the field back down pit road together instead of Hamlin giving up his track position. He led 53 laps.

“I just wanted to see that last run play out, and it was still a great finish, a great race anyway,” Hamlin said. “It was fun battling up front. Nobody could lead because everyone would get too loose. My car was better in second and fast enough to lead, but once I led, it was too loose.

“So, we were back and forth. Obviously, put on a great show.”

Chris Gayle, Hamlin’s crew chief, said the team only needed a little bit of fuel from the second can to make the finish. But it is hard for them to know while it’s happening that there is a bad plug in with the fuel can, and Gayle could not tell live or from video why the can did not plug in correctly.

“But for whatever reason, the second can, when they plugged it, barely took any fuel at all,” Gayle said. “I can’t tell from the view right now if it’s a bad plug, like open on the bottom. We saw a bunch of fuel coming out of the bottom. But it got about four gallons less than we expected.

“I would have needed to sit there for another two seconds to get four gallons in it. Unfortunate.”

Hamlin blew an engine at Texas Motor Speedway and then had a mechanical issue take him out of the race at Kansas Speedway. But he had the pace in both races to potentially challenge for the victory, if not finish inside the top 10.

Sunday was the same story at Charlotte. The only miss of the month was at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the All-Star Race with the wrong setup.

“I feel good about our performance. I feel crappy about how we finish,” Hamlin said. “That’s been the story of the last month, and that’s a shame.”