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Ryan Blaney wins season finale at Phoenix Raceway.<\/p>\n
It was his dad who got Hamlin into racing, taking him to a track when Hamlin was 5 years old. As Hamlin raced and the bills mounted, his father pushed to keep going to the point it almost cost the family their home.<\/p>\n
Without that support, Hamlin likely would not have worked his way to Joe Gibbs Racing \u2014 the only team he\u2019s raced for in Cup since making his series debut in 2005.<\/p>\n
Hamlin had tears when he won at Las Vegas three weeks ago for his 60th career victory, a milestone he had long set. As he celebrated on the track, he made sure to say hi to his father in his interview on USA Network.<\/p>\n
Sunday, when asked by Jeff Burton on the NBC broadcast before the race what it would mean to get a championship for his family and that of team owner Joe Gibbs, Hamlin was nearly speechless.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard \u2026\u2019\u2019 Hamlin said his voice quivering. \u201cI\u2019m trying. I\u2019m trying my best\u201d as his voice cracked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Hamlin emotional when discussing Gibbs family<\/p>\n Denny Hamlin shares his emotions after hearing words from Joe Gibbs ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race.<\/p>\n He regained his composure and was \u201clocked in\u201d by the time he strapped into his No. 11 car.<\/p>\n Hamlin had the strongest car Sunday, leading 208 of the 319 laps.<\/p>\n Hamlin was poised to win the title. Friend and fellow championship contender Kyle Larson later said that \u201cI was going to be happy for him to win. That\u2019s kind of what I was thinking about, like, man, I can\u2019t wait to go tell him \u2018Good job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen the caution came out and the script flipped.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Analyzing how Hamlin handled Cup Championship race<\/p>\n The NASCAR on NBC crew unpack the Cup Series Championship race and discuss how Denny Hamlin could have handled things differently down the stretch.<\/p>\n Hamlin was three laps away from the championship when fellow title contender William Byron had a flat right that brought out the caution and sent the race to overtime. <\/p>\n When Byron saw Hamlin in the media center after the race, he put his hand on Hamlin\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, man,\u201d Byron said.<\/p>\n Hamlin raised his hands and said: \u201cIt happens.\u201d<\/p>\n