Actions Detrimental <\/a>podcast, one in which he feels everything went against him in a race that looked like his to lose.\u00a0<\/p>\nHe had just retaken the lead from Tyler Reddick with four laps to go and was half a lap away from taking the white flag when Cody Ware spun due to a flat tire. Then, he simply got beat on the restart but factors both in and out of his control.<\/p>\n
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Even during the restart, Hamlin feels like he would have had a shot at winning if not for Tyler Reddick putting Christopher Bell into the wall and into his path.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, of the Reddick contact with Bell doesn\u2019t happen, and I don\u2019t get (driven) all the way down to the apron \u2026 Kyle (Larson\u2019s) car was so bad those last two laps,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cThat\u2019s what happens (extreme tight balance) when you put on (right sides) and have really old lefts. That\u2019s why it looked like Tyler was superman. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was going to be three-wide with (Larson and Reddick) entering turn three because of the run I got on the top.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far as Larson taking him three-wide going into Turn 1, he wants a redo on that too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, because I’ve been there before, that (Larson) is not going to push,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cHe’s going to try to get everything he can to go three-wide and I\u2019ve just got to drive him down to the apron. \u2018If you want to go three-wide, you have to go to the middle,\u2019 and this is just a forewarning. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this happens again, he’s going to have to go the middle. I will not let him. I will run to the apron or keep him on the apron next time. I will not get beat low at this racetrack again.\u201d<\/p>\n
So then, the fair and obvious question is why did Hamlin choose the bottom over the top as the control car driver. The data suggests the best restarts come from the bottom but that expects a push from behind that Larson was never going to give in that scenario.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould have, I should have, as strong as I know my cars are on the top on mile-and-a-half tracks, I absolutely should have started at the top, no matter what,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cI could hold more throttle than everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
So again, why didn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bottom is the preferred line,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cThe bottom wins by the numbers. The data says the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just not on the final restart as it turns out.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are not content pushing anymore,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cEveryone is just going to go for themselves. And that’s where you have to just throw the numbers out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Hamlin was extra disappointed because he knows next season is his final season, and this now makes two wins that got away from him in 2026 — Martinsville and Kansas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took this one a little tougher because I just want to capitalize,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cI\u2019ve only got 60 races left and I just want to get these wins when I should be winning and it\u2019s just not happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the loose wheel at the end of Martinsville and a lot of stuff that\u2019s not going great in the luck category or the creating your own luck category, which is what I chalk this up to.\u201d<\/p>\n
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