Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and playoff contenders Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. exited Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race within a lap of each other, falling out with separate issues in the late going at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hamlin’s JGR No. 11 Toyota crashed into the outside retaining wall in Turn 1 with 32 laps left in the 4EVER 400, with the veteran driver telling his crew on the radio that he had encountered a steering issue before the wall contact. Hamlin limped the battered No. 11 back to pit road, and he exited the car unhurt.
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“We really battled back well today,” Hamlin said after a check at the infield care center. “Just a tough break.”
During the caution period for Hamlin’s wreck, Truex’s No. 19 Toyota showed signs of smoke as it circulated behind the pace car. Truex told his crew that he felt the engine was failing, and he also headed to the pits to end his day.
Hamlin finished 30th in the 36-car field, retiring 31 laps shy of the full 267-lap distance. Truex completed just one more lap than Hamlin and was credited with 29th.
Both drivers sit 17 points below the provisional elimination line in the Cup Series Playoffs picture, heading to Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) at Martinsville Speedway. The 500-lapper is the final race in the Round of 8, and the title-eligible field will be whittled from eight drivers to the four who will race for the Cup Series crown in the Nov. 5 finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Two spots remain in the Championship 4 field. Kyle Larson clinched his title-race berth with a win Oct. 15 at Las Vegas, and Christopher Bell — a teammate to Hamlin and Truex at JGR — snapped up another spot by winning Sunday’s race at Homestead.
Hamlin has reached the Championship 4 in four of the last five seasons. Truex, the Regular Season Champion this year, has made the final four on five occasions.