Runner-up doesn't soothe Hamlin's pit-road wounds

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- The phrase "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" might be playing in Denny Hamlin's head Sunday night.

Again, the No. 11 Chevrolet spent much of the afternoon out front in a Car of Tomorrow race but handed the win to Hendrick Motorsports after Hamlin crossed the finish line second in a dominant car that lead a race-high 179 of 367 laps during Sunday's Dodge Avenger 500.

Denny Hamlin

COT Races

Race	Finish	Led
Bristol	14	177
Martinsville	3	125
Phoenix	3	70
Richmond	3	12
Darlington	2	178
Totals	5.0	563

• Darlington Lap-by-Lap

Hamlin entered the media center in Darlington shaking his head in disbelief and simply said, "unbelievable."

He is learning -- the hard way -- races can be won and lost on pit road.

"This has gotta end. Everyone is gonna talk about Hendrick winning another race, but this was our race," lamented Hamlin once outside of his racecar, donning a blank stare. "If we lose by 20 or 30 points in the championship it's because we lost it on pit road."

Nearing the end of the race and running in second place, Hamlin simply ran out of laps as Jeff Gordon pulled away for the win. The No. 11 crew was left only to ponder mistakes made on pit road.

On Lap 101, Hamlin had trouble on the left-rear tire in the pits and had a slow 16.8-second stop. He was among the last to pit during green-flag stops and the slow service dropped him from the lead to second -- 5.993 seconds behind the No. 99 of Carl Edwards.

Then on Lap 239, Hamlin lost two spots from third to fifth with a slow stop.

On Lap 305, Hamlin entered the pits in second and came out 15th after a crewman apparently bobbled a lug nut on the right-front tire.

Unwilling to write off his crew for the mistakes made, Hamlin said he believes they are struggling with "head issues."

"The immediate reaction is to get rid of people and get new people, but that's not the answer," Hamlin said. "Really it's just a head aspect ... their head gets in the way of their hands. I'm not going to bash my guys. Unfortunately, we've been hurt at the wrong times."

Statistics show Hamlin has led more laps in the Car of Tomorrow (563) than any other driver, and that includes any driver inside the Hendrick stable, the team that has won all five COT races this season.

Hamlin was mildly critical of NASCAR for not throwing a caution late in the race for a plethora of debris he said he saw on the track.

"I literally pumped my fist, the caution would come out and of course if the caution comes out, it's game over ... Hendrick gets another break," he said.

NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp said officials saw the debris, however, ruled it was "low on the racetrack and outside the racing groove."

So far this season, Hamlin has led 611 laps and has led at least one lap in each of the last four races. He has four third-place finishes and now a second-place finish heading into Saturday night's All-Star race.

"We had a really good car right from the get-go," he said. "We started off strong, were good through the midpoint. We got off on one green-flag run where we fell back to third or so. But we fixed it on that pit stop and our car, really, just seemed like the best car all day."