HAMPTON, Ga. -- Denny Hamlin entered Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a simple goal. He fell short of it and lost his cushion to the Round of 12 cutline.
As Hamlin explained after the race, he just wanted to get 20 points at the 1.540-mile track. He felt that he could advance through the Round of 16 if he didn't finish worse than 20th at Atlanta, Watkins Glen, and Bristol.
Hamlin missed out on stage points and he finished 24th after a crash on the last lap of the race. Meanwhile, fellow playoff driver Joey Logano won the race and moved to the Round of 12.
"All I was trying to do is get 20 points," Hamlin said on pit road after the race. "However that was possible. We were gonna finish there, but obviously, the wreck, so nothing's certainly given.
"Just got caught in a wreck and that's all there is to it."
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The last-lap crash was not the only issue that disrupted Hamlin's race. He also had to start last after a wire plug issue in Saturday's qualifying session. He then struggled with handling early in the playoff-opening race.
Hamlin had better handling during the final stage of the race, but he did not make his way through the field. Instead, he hung back while preparing to avoid the seemingly inevitable Big One.
However, this massive multi-car crash never materialized. The biggest incident of the day was actually the last-lap crash that collected Hamlin.
"I thought there would be a bigger wreck," Hamlin said. "Just trying to play the numbers. Figured there would be more incidences than there was.
"I mean, there were still some playoff guys in some stuff, but overall, I didn't care about really, what anyone else did."
Starting at the back, missing stage points, and getting collected in a multi-car crash caused Hamlin to fall short of his stated goal of 20 points. He only scored 13 in the playoff opener.
The perennial playoff contender is now only two spots above the elimination line heading into the second race of the Round of 16. His cushion is a mere two points as he is ahead of teammate Ty Gibbs and RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski.
Hamlin's goals will now shift. Twenty points will not be the focus heading to Watkins Glen International and then Bristol Motor Speedway. Stage points will become more of a priority, as will potentially contending for the win.
"Obviously, we got to go the next couple weeks and perform good," Hamlin said.