Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin did not enter the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as the points leader, but he did enter the round of 12 atop the standings after picking up five playoff points in the round of 16 with his victory at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron, the only two drivers who racked up more playoff points than Hamlin during the regular season, both failed to add any more during the round of 16, so after entering the playoffs three points ahead of Hamlin, they entered the second round tied for second, two points behind.
But Hamlin's points lead was short-lived, and his 12th place finish in Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was not the reason for much of the attention.
Denny Hamlin drops out of the playoff lead
Hamlin, who dropped from first to fifth place and is now 22 points out of the lead and 27 points above the round of 8 cut line, notably spun teammate Ty Gibbs after Gibbs, the lone Joe Gibbs Racing driver who failed to make the playoffs, was racing him hard lap after lap and would not cut Hamlin a break.
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Neither Hamlin nor Gibbs spoke much about the incident afterward, with Gibbs repeatedly refusing to answer questions about Hamlin as he did his best 2017 Kyle Busch impression by continuously mentioned how he is looking forward to competing at Kansas Speedway this coming weekend.
Looking back at the contact, teammate Christopher Bell had a front row seat to the whole ordeal and was extremely fortunate to avoid getting collected himself.
Alas, Hamlin was unable to capitalize with the No. 54 Toyota out of the way, and he had to settle for 12th after a disappointing final restart of the afternoon.
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney is the new points leader after winning Sunday's races, and he sits ahead of Byron (-2), Larson (-8), and Bell (-20).
USA Network is set to provide live coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET from Kansas Speedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 28. If you have not already done so, start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!