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Denny Hamlin laments all the 'crazy' ways he's lost races

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones07/02/24brianjones_93
Denny Hamlin (7)
Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Denny Hamlin is having a strong 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season but feels like it should be better. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, the 43-year-old driver talked about the missed opportunities he has had this year when it comes to winning races.

“Am I crazy to think that like I feel like I should have 100 wins? This is f***ing crazy the ways I’ve lost races,” Hamlin said. “Damn it. It sucks.”

Hamlin has won three races this year, making him one of four drivers to reach that mark. But after finishing in the top five in five consecutive races, Hamlin has struggled the last four weeks, with finishes of P38 (Sonoma), P24 (Iowa), P24 (New Hampshire) and P12 (Nashville). Hamlin had his share of opportunities to win at least two of these races, but several circumstances led to him suffering disappointing finishes.

Denny Hamlin continues rivarly with Kyle Larson

During Sunday’s race, fans noticed Hamlin and Kyle Larson racing each other hard, specifially in overtime. After the race, NBC Sports asked Hamlin if he was upset with Larson’s way of driving.

“I thought it was fine. We were messing around with each other, like we were last week,” Hamlin said . “We were battling for third right there on the stage and he ran me up, which was all good. I ran him up last week a little bit. On the restart with the 22 (Joey Logano), the 22 was mad at me, but the 5 tried to clean us out there, and I think he tried to clean us out at the end there but got the 1, so it all worked out.”

Hamlin also talked about the fuel issues he had at the end of the race. “We ran out there under that caution,” he said. “[Crew chief Chris Gabehart] was monitoring fuel pressure. I let him know what the fuel pressure was. We were fine with just running out of gas, but we did under caution. So it was the right call. I was going down pit lane there out of gas. I was surprised it lasted that many green/white checkereds, honestly.”

Hamlin is third in the Cup Series standings behind Chase Elliott and Larson. Despite winning 54 Cup Series races including the Daytona 500 three times, Hamlin is still looking for his first Cup Series Championship.