Denny Hamlin's trip to Texas Motor Speedway came to an early end due to an unexpected fire near the end of stage 1.
The incident occurred on Lap 75. Hamlin suddenly fell off the pace and navigated to the bottom of the track. Blue smoke poured from underneath the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, which indicated that the engine had failed.
Suddenly, flames burst out from under the No. 11. The car then spun toward the inside SAFER barrier as the fire continued to burn. Hamlin was able to pull the car to the bottom of the track, where the safety crews worked on extinguishing the blaze.
Fire in the No. 11. Denny Hamlin is okay. pic.twitter.com/LjuFx6KyLK
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 4, 2025
Hamlin exited the car and headed to the infield care center, where he underwent evaluation. He finished 38th in what was his first DNF of the season.
The fire brought stage 1 to an end. Austin Cindric, the leader at the time of the incident, won the stage. Tyler Reddick, Josh Berry, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Michael McDowell, and Erik Jones all scored stage points.
The veteran driver said after exiting the care center that he didn't have any real indication that the catastrophic failure was about to take place. He said that the engine "began missing" the lap before the fire. The engine then just "blew up."
"It was blowing up for about a lap or so before it really detonated," Hamlin said. "I tried to keep it off to keep it from full detonating, that way they can diagnose exactly what happened to it.
"It's tough to say exactly what it is, but they'll go back and look at it, and we'll find out in a few weeks."
Hamlin's DNF marked the first time since last summer that he finished off the lead lap. This snapped a streak lasting 21 races. It began with the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway and continued through last weekend's race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Streak aside, the bigger concern for Hamlin is his place in the points standings. He entered the Texas weekend third in the points, but he was only 20 points ahead of Chase Elliott in fourth. Finishing 38th guaranteed that Hamlin would lose at least one spot.