Denny Hamlin’s quest to win an elusive first NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2026 got a little trickier following the Chase opener at Darlington Raceway. After disastrous contact with Michael McDowell in the final stage, the driver of the No. 11 wound up finishing 18th at “The Track Too Tough to Tame.”
Hamlin entered the Chase with a 25-point lead over Ryan Blaney after winning the regular-season championship. Following Sunday night’s Cook Out Southern 500, the Joe Gibbs Racing star now holds only a 12-point gap over new second
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