
<p>While Denny Hamlin led laps and seemed to have a car capable of winning the Ally 400, he was just missing something in his car. With guys like Martin Truex Jr. and Ross Chastain performing better in open air, Hamlin had to get his car moving faster some way somehow. It just never happened for the <a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/category/nascar/news/">NASCAR</a> veteran.</p>



<p>Once Denny Hamlin lost his track position to his teammate and archrival almost at the same time, it was pretty much over. Hamlin did his best to stay out front, but when the speed of those other cars started to catch up to him, he just couldn’t hold them off. </p>



<p>After the race, Hamlin went over what went wrong and how he felt his day went. The JGR driver didn’t think he had a winning car but made the most of what he had. </p>



<p>“The field is so close, everyone is running the same time,” Hamlin said about the battle for the lead. “It’s real hard to get track position. </p>



<p>“I think we really had a third-place car. The entire race I thought the 19 was better. The 1 obviously came on strong there at the end. It’s all we had with our FedEx Toyota. This is an optimized day, it was a day with no mistakes. We gave ourselves a chance. Didn’t have quite a fast enough car to go and contend.” </p>



<p>Denny Hamlin went on to say in his post-race interview that he wished he had more speed. “That’s what we needed.” Overall, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqXFMmNAB-w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">he seemed pleased with his result</a> and how the Ally 400 went. I’m sure he wishes it wasn’t <a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/news/ross-chastain-smashes-a-watermelon-delivers-epic-victory-speech-after-ally-400-win/">Chastain in victory lane</a>, though. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<span class="cUjSQeqfVRNhP4i5rJHE2D1v0bs8l3IG6CzATZMWOawkpdY7yxX"><iframe loading="lazy" title="DENNY HAMLIN MARTIN TRUEX JR POST RACE INTERVIEWS - 2023 ALLY 400 NASCAR CUP SERIES AT NASHVILLE" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YqXFMmNAB-w?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></span>
</div></figure>



<p>These JGR Toyotas have been catching on lately. If they continue their great racing throughout the second half of the season, things could really get interesting. </p>



<h2 id="h-denny-hamlin-led-81-laps-during-ally-400">Denny Hamlin led 81 laps during Ally 400</h2>



<p>This race had movement throughout the middle of the field. Some drivers caught on later than others. Then there were those that bounced between being top-10 drivers and being outside of the top-10 almost all night. </p>



<p>Not to mention, we had four drivers lead more than double-digit laps during the race. Chastain led the most with 99 laps in the wind. Truex Jr. led 50 laps throughout the race as well. As for Denny Hamlin, the No. 11 Toyota Camry was out front for 81 total laps. </p>



<p>There was also a time when Kyle Busch led for 12 laps before the field caught him. This race didn’t go into overtime and there wasn’t a massive wreck, really. But this was an example of great green flag racing. You had <a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/news/martin-truex-jr-takes-ally-400-lead-after-wild-three-wide-battle-for-multiple-laps/">three wide for the lead</a>, Chastain went and <a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/news/ross-chastain-claims-aric-almirola-has-it-out-for-him-on-the-track-after-ally-400/">split two lappers</a> up the middle – things were electric on the track. </p>



<p>Denny Hamlin just didn’t have it in his car to compete with the 1 and the 19. Plain and simple. However, he didn’t have a major mistake and came out with a P3 finish. He just needs to be consistent now. He has two top-5 finishes and two DNFs in the last four races. Need more of those top-5s to keep the momentum going. </p>


Denny Hamlin Ally 400

NASCAR

5GOATs

Denny Hamlin breaks down why he couldn't contend for the win at Ally 400

team image

Pro News

NFL News

NFL Draft News

NBA News

NBA Draft News

Culture

Sports Betting

About

Football

Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

NC State

Nebraska

North Carolina

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

The Main Board

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

The Wolfpacker

The Wolves’ Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Wrestling

Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Annual $1

Annual Premium

Annual $1 

Monthly

Annual

Unlimited Access to This and All Articles.

Article (On3 Plus Rivals)

Forum (On3 Plus Rivals)

Intro

Join

College scoop, experts, and community - all in one.

Winback

New update on eligibility

Charles Bediako

Top 25 sees big movement

AP Poll

New No. 1 overall seed

Bracketology update

Composite of major outlets

Way-Too-Early Top 25

Punishing players' wallets

Deion Sanders