Denny Hamlin secured his spot in the NASCAR playoffs Round of 12 with a steady and consistent performance at Bristol.
The American driver was able to contend towards the top end of the field with relative ease but didn’t quite show the edge he needed to contend for victory.
A fifth-place finish left him disappointed, but the imperious Kyle Larson, who led over 450 of the 500 laps looked almost untouchable.
He leads the NASCAR playoffs standings by quite a way from Christopher Bell in second, and it’s hard to see him not in contention for the title by the final race.
It was a much-needed result for Hamlin, who has failed to finish inside the top five in any of his last five races.
It’s the sort of performance that should give him the confidence to kick on and keep delivering results across the final races of the season.
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“I mean, my aspiration was to win it, you know?” Hamlin told on3. “But uh it looked like the five there just was better than all of us.
“But yeah solid car, I thought we were really good towards the middle stages and then there at the end just got too loose and couldn’t hang on to what we had there. But overall, top-5 day. Good stage points, kind of in the mix.
“Just not really, you know, as good as what we’ve been here in the last couple times. But overall I thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with.”
Who was eliminated from the playoffs in Bristol?
Four drivers were eliminated from the playoffs in Bristol, as drivers struggled to maintain their pace throughout the race.
Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr, Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton’s winning hopes all came to an end at the final race before the Round of 12 kicks off.
There are still six races remaining before the Cup Series Championship race in November, which will be held at the Phoenix Raceway.
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Playoff race winner Joey Logano currently sits in the most dangerous spot in eighth, with just a four-point buffer behind him.
He has three races, as do his rivals, to pull out a slightly bigger gap to the four cars behind him and ensure his place in the Round of 12.