Hamlin falls in the Cup Series standings but gains ground on the lead

Denny Hamlin finally gained ground in the NASCAR Cup Series championship fight, but it didn’t feel like it after Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway.

“Because it’s about our day, not about others’ days,” Hamlin told reporters at the track. “We have not finished races to the best of our capability. So, if we can start doing that, in a really big hurry, you never know what could happen.”

The seventh race of the Chase produced a slow pit stop, a fight for track position, and then a blown tire that ultimately did Hamlin in. Hamlin started the afternoon fourth and scored points in both stages. But the blown tire, on lap 221, sent him to pit road under green-flag conditions.

Hamlin fell outside the top 25. The team didn't believe an air pressure issue caused the blown tire, but rather that Hamlin had run over something.

A caution a few laps later seemed like the saving grace that would get him back on the lead lap, but he had been speeding into pit road, which cost him the free pass. He never regained the lap and ultimately finished 28th.

“A corner before I felt the car bottom out,” Hamlin said. “So, I knew at that point that I definitely had a tire. At that point, I was just trying to hang on and somehow try to get it to pit road, and obviously I had no idea where I was on speed with the right rear tire on it.”

It wasn't a surprise to Hamlin when another issue cropped up, as he’s been in this position before while fighting for a championship. He admitted it is why he’s not shell-shocked. Phoenix was at least the fifth race in this Chase where Hamlin and his team had an issue, either on pit road or on the racetrack.

“The beginning was not great once we got back in traffic, but I thought the second half of the race we were strong and going to contend for the win,” he said. “And I was just right there with the [No.] 19 when the tire blew for third.

“So, definitely not ideal, but what can you do?”

With championship leader Kyle Larson failing to finish and being 34th on the results sheet, Hamlin cut 18 points off the lead. He has 31 points to make up with three races to go.

“I feel like [we] just need, when we have a good car like we were in the second half of the race today, to finish well,” Hamlin said with a shrug. “And we just haven’t finished.”

In seven Chase races, Hamlin has finished 18th or worse in three.