Denny Hamlin explains what went wrong for him on last lap at Kansas

Denny Hamlin had control of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, leading the field for the final restart during overtime.

Unfortunately for Hamlin, Kyle Larson was not to be stopped from claiming his second victory of the season. Larson made it three-wide going into Turn 1 between him, Hamlin and Chris Buescher, leaving Hamlin in the middle. Trapped in the middle, Hamlin was passed by both Larson and Buescher, as well as Chase Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr.

Hamlin, who finished fifth, detailed on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast what went wrong for him during the overtime restart.

“I had my own issues getting off Turn 2 on that last lap because the 19 [Truex Jr] — I was about to clear him, and I come down the track — he dumps air on the left side, I start getting tight, I see Chase coming [and] I check up because I’m like, ‘Oh f***, I don’t wanna get just killed by the 9 [Elliott] here on the outside.’ So, I get passed by both of them and I’m watching what’s going on in the front because I’m thinking, ‘Well, how do I set myself up here?’ So, I slow down entering Turn 3 to try to get a big run off and the whole time I’m just watching those first two leaders and I’m like, ‘Are they gonna keep it off of each other? Really, like they’re not gonna make any contact through [Turns] 3 and 4?’

“It was epic, for sure.”

Denny Hamlin overcomes pit road issues to score solid finish at Kansas

Hamlin, who led a race-high 71 laps, now has four top 5s this season. He overcame multiple issues on pit road, including losing seven spots on a pit stop at the end of Stage 1.

“I’ll tell you, with 70 [laps] to go, it wasn’t looking really good,” Hamlin said after the race. “We had some pit-road miscues that set us back, but [crew chief Chris Gabehart] and the guys did a great job coming up with a strategy there to pit and then jump the field back.”