Denny Hamlin entered Sunday's playoff race at Kansas Speedway with his sights set on the win. He left frustrated after an eighth-place finish due to numerous issues on pit road.
"It was just a crappy day on pit road, and we didn't get the finish that we deserved," Hamlin said after the race. "This is a great opportunity to lock ourselves in and instead we're scraping and clawing to finish in the top 10."
Hamlin entered Kansas Speedway with six straight finishes of fifth or better. This run included a win last season, his fourth trip to Victory Lane at the intermediate track. This was a place where Hamlin and his team could stockpile points or even win.
Hamlin achieved his goal early. He scored seven points in stage 1. However, he fell from fourth to 15th early in stage 2 after a long pit stop under caution.
"I cannot lose track position. Please," a frustrated Hamlin said over the radio after the first slow stop.
Crew chief Chris Gabehart responded to his driver by telling him to focus on making up the lost positions and not on what led to the slow stop.
The issues compounded after that point.
Hamlin made another pit stop after Daniel Hemric brought out the caution on Lap 144. He did not initially lose any spots, but he had to make another trip down pit road. His team did not tighten the left rear wheel.
Instead of restarting in a position to score more stage points, Hamlin dropped to 31st. He only made it to 11th before the end of stage 2.
Hamlin dropped outside of the top 20 after stage 2 due to the field using different pit strategies, but he was able to work his way up to sixth as the laps clicked down.
It appeared that he would be back in contention for the win. He just needed to chase down such drivers as Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Martin Truex Jr.
Once again, Hamlin encountered an issue.
Busch spun and brought out the caution with 31 laps left in the race. This sent the field back down pit road for a late charge to the checkered flag.
Hamlin entered pit road fourth in the running order. He left 15th and saw his hopes of a win fade away once again.
"We lost 15 spots on pit road and had the fastest car," Hamlin said. "We came in fourth and came out 15th or 20th or something like that and you can only pass so many."
Hamlin is still above the Round of 8 cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 12. He just isn't in as comfortable of a position. He is only 11 points to the good as he prepares for Talladega and the Charlotte Roval.
The veteran driver only has one top-five finish and one top-10 finish at the Roval in six career starts, but he has achieved success throughout his career at Talladega.
Hamlin has two wins and 16 top-10 finishes at Talladega in 37 Cup starts, so the superspeedway is a track where he could gain back some of his lost points.
He just needs to avoid incidents on the track while his crew delivers a clean day on pit road.
"I think they've got to get some reps and get in a rhythm and peak when it really counts here in the next couple weeks," Hamlin said.