Kyle Larson -9<\/a>
Christopher Bell -18<\/a>
Ryan Blaney -33<\/a>
Tyler Reddick -42<\/a>
Ty Gibbs -51<\/a>
Joey Logano -51<\/a>
Chase Briscoe -59<\/a>
Carson Hocevar -88<\/a>
Bubba Wallace -90<\/a>
Chase Elliott -93<\/a>
Chris Buescher -111<\/a>
Ryan Preece -113<\/a>
William Byron -114<\/a>
Daniel Suarez -119<\/a><\/p>\n
Hamlin scored 16 stage points last week to offset a 13th place finish in the Southern 500 but only scored five stage points to go along with a ninth place result. He also had a slow pit stop and struggled to get speed out of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11.<\/p>\n
“I think we are so fortunate,” Hamlin said. “We were strong last week, and this week we were not strong, and still, we maintained the lead. With all of the tracks coming up, we have a good notebook on. Here was the first one where we were coming back with a new package. We haven\u2019t been good all year with this package at this track for the first time. I feel like we\u2019ve been given a second chance. We just have to go and be better now.”<\/p>\n
It’s easier to say that because his closest pursuer, Ryan Blaney, also suffered a brake failure and finished 36th with 12 stage points earned earlier in the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust got to keep going,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cGo to the next week and try to have a good day. It\u2019s a shame. I thought we did a good job today. The car was good and had good stage points and was looking forward to the end of the race. We will just go race next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a missed opportunity for Christopher Bell, who seemed to have a race winning car before getting caught up in a crash racing with Bubba Wallace and Josh Berry just outside the top-5.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I haven\u2019t seen it, so I don\u2019t exactly know, but I ended up in a three-wide battle with Josh beside me and he was just laying on me, and then he missed the turn,” Bell said. “I don\u2019t know. Just a missed opportunity. I\u2019m really bummed that it looked like it was going to be a really good points day for us, and I thought I was in position to win, and if I wasn\u2019t going to win get a top-five and ended up with a 19th place finish, which in the grand scheme of things \u2013 we are still in the hunt, which is awesome, but just a missed opportunity.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Watch: Logano after falling short of win: ‘I had no homies with me’<\/p>\n
Then there’s Joey Logano, who remarkably was 20th in the standing just over two months ago, before rallying to make it to the eighth overall seed and could have closed to within 30 points of Hamlin with a win.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, he finished third and led the most laps to score the second most stage points (54) overall but that leaves him still 51 points behind Hamlin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we got closer to where we need to be,\u201d Logano said. \u201cBut when you have an opportunity like that, you have the car like that, you need to win, and we just didn\u2019t make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
All told, given that Hamlin struggled so mightily, he is more than pleased to take a points lead into Bristol Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n
“It’s a blessing,” Hamlin said. “Last week, we had good performance, and this week were not very good. We had a bad pit stop and we still came out of it with the points lead because the competition helped.”<\/p>\n
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