Fuel-pump problem sours Hamlin's effort at Bristol (cont'd)

Well, that and the caution. Once they had to slow, they then had a decision to make about whether or not to pit. Hamlin asked crew chief Mike Ford what to do and was told to "follow the 5." So when Busch didn't pit, neither did Hamlin or Greg Biffle, who was running in third. Others who would move up to finish second, third and fourth -- Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick -- pitted and took on four tires, setting up an interesting finish that would not include the fading Hamlin.

He eventually dropped all the way to a 14th-place finish that was a bitter pill to swallow.

"I thought I had the lead [when the caution came out after Johnson's brush with the wall]. The way it turned out, with our mechanical failures, it wouldn't have mattered," Hamlin said. "It was just a tough day. It was disappointing.

"There was nothing we were going to overcome. It was a mechanical issue. There was nothing I could have done; there was nothing our crew could have done. It was just bad luck.

"Pitting wouldn't have mattered for us. The 5 car won with no tires. We were in good shape. We all thought if it would have gone to the end, we would have had it. Unfortunately, it didn't go to the end and we didn't get it."