There’s an inherent chaos in auto racing that transcends that of any other sport.
Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway was about as un-chaotic as a modern NASCAR Cup Series race can get. The only caution flags were for the stage breaks at laps 80 and 165, respectively, and after getting around Tyler Reddick for the race lead, Denny Hamlin appeared to be on his way to his second win of the 2026 season.
That was until chaos reared its ugly head in the form of a spinning Cody Ware, which brought out the yellow flag as Hamlin was coming off of turn 4 to take the white flag. A trip to victory lane would have to wait as the field was re-racked for an overtime restart.
Not the first time Denny Hamlin has lost a heartbreaker
Hamlin is no stranger to losing races in heartbreaking fashion due to overtime. Per Stephen Stumpf of Frontstretch.com, Hamlin has lost six races since 2023 in which he was leading at the end of the scheduled distance due to the race going into overtime. That includes the 2025 Daytona 500 and the 2025 championship race at Phoenix.