Denny Hamlin falls short again in quest for NASCAR ....

There were no overt signs of frustration or anger as Denny Hamlin leaned against his car on Martinsville Speedway’s pit road in the immediate aftermath of a third-place finish in Sunday’s Cup Series playoff elimination race. This was in spite of delivering a result not good enough for him to avoid being one of four drivers eliminated.

He just stood there, looking forward, saying little. Any outwardly expressed frustration or anger by Hamlin would’ve been understandable. After all, he and his Joe Gibbs Racing team had speed, executed close to flawlessly and performed at a high level. In a race necessitating that they bring their “A” game, they did nearly everything well. Hamlin won the first stage, finished second in Stage 2 and third overall.

But the one thing he didn’t do was win. And, ultimately, that was the difference between advancing to the championship round and his title hopes being extinguished. His pursuit of winning that first series championship will have to wait at least another year.

“I can’t second-guess or doubt myself because I know that there’s nothing else I could have done. Absolutely nothing else.”

As Hamlin leaned against his No. 11 Toyota, decompressing, behind him Ryan Blaney celebrated his win at Martinsville. Blaney is advancing to the Championship 4 where he’ll face off against Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and William Byron for the 2023 title.

For Hamlin, Sunday marked the second year in a row he was knocked out of the playoffs at Martinsville. Similar to last year, his elimination was a surprise and also came despite doing just about everything he could to advance.

Last year, Ross Chastain’s “Hail Melon” was the culprit as to why Hamlin didn’t move forward. On Sunday, there was no miraculous last-lap maneuver that prevented him from doi.

So it goes for Hamlin in the playoffs. Sunday was just a continuation of a longstanding theme that has often hampered him during this juncture of the season, where factors outside his control have frequently caused his downfall.

Such as when a broken roof hatch led to a second-round elimination from the 2015 playoff, or in 2019 when a large piece of tape was not applied properly to the nose of his car during a pit stop in the championship final, causing his engine to overheat.

“It just seems like I’ve just been unlucky in the playoffs,” Hamlin said. “I can’t remember too many years where it’s like, ‘Wow, we’re not good enough to be in the final four.’ There’s been a few years, but not that many. We’re probably fifth in points now, probably going to finish five straight years in the top five. We’re doing great. I couldn’t be with a better team. It’s just, I keep crapping out. I can’t hit a point on the crap board.”