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Denny Hamlin‘s hopes of winning the championship title were dashed at Martinsville, marking a disappointing day for the JGR driver. Despite this setback, Hamlin demonstrated sportsmanship by taking the time to acknowledge the efforts of his rival and Hendrick driver Chase Elliott after the race.
After the race, Hamlin and Elliott spoke to each other, leaving many curious about the conversation. Notably, this was the first time Elliott was not racing in the playoffs after being unable to qualify in the regular season. Considering that the 2020 Cup Series champion had seemingly nothing to do with Hamlin’s race in the postseason, what would they be speaking about?
Hamlin responded to the reporter and said, “I was just saying thank you to him because the entire playoffs he has pulled over and let me go and giving me breaks. I just wanna let him know that I acknowledge the way he’s driven me through the entire playoffs.”
The JGR driver’s recognition of Elliott’s sportsmanship during their race was a positive development indeed. It was only natural for him to approach the HMS driver and express his gratitude. This gesture would surely have pleased the Elliott, especially considering their oftentimes strained on-track relationship..
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Hamlin’s hopes and dreams to be able to make this year his year ended right after the race at Martinsville Speedway. Although he did win stage 1 of the race pretty effortlessly, things started slipping away from him mid-way through the race, when Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney suddenly caught up pace and passed him for the lead.
Throughout the race, there were hopes for Hamlin to regain position after he was successfully able to overtake Blaney in the pits. But not long after, Hamlin found himself being gobbled up by the advancing Fords. Toward the final few laps of the race, it was evident that Hamlin would not be able to make up positions over Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney.
Thereafter, Hamlin ended the race in third place with one stage win. But since William Byron was able to climb above the 18th position after being bottlenecked and eventually ending the race in 13th, Hamlin’s points total was just not enough to make the championship four next weekend.
