Denny Hamlin explains Nashville PTSD, Austin Cindric ‘playing grabass,’ overtime nightmare

Last year in Nashville, it looked like Denny Hamlin’s race to lose late. Then the chaos unfolded as the race went to five overtimes. With the five overtime restarts, Hamlin ran out of fuel, and Joey Logano stole the race to springboard his path to his third NASCAR championship.

Nashville Superspeedway has only hosted the Cup Series for a few years. This year, for the next edition, Denny Hamlin is hoping to walk away with the win and the guitar in Victory Lane.

However, on his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin lamented the fact that he is returning to the track, a place he jokingly says gave him PTSD. From passing Ross Chastain for the lead to eventually pitting for fuel and losing out on the win, everything fell apart in that race for the 11 team.

“Okay… Well, we’re going to give it another go. Nashville, more PTSD. Nine overtime finishes, as we’re dominating that race. Ran down Ross, passed him with I don’t know, handful of laps to go. Austin Cindric plays grabass with somebody down the backstretch. Spins, doesn’t touch anything, spins, does a 360, keeps going, they throw a caution, and nine overtimes later, I had to pit after the fifth overtime. Maybe sixth. G*****n f***ing cursed.”

Denny Hamlin won the pole at Nashville a year ago. He ended up finishing P12 overall. It was part of the worst five-race stretch he had all of 2024. From Sonoma to Chicago, he had finishes of P38, P24, P24, P12, and P30.

Denny Hamlin hoping for better luck at Nashville

Coming off of his fuel issues at the end of the Coca-Cola 600, Denny Hamlin might be having a bit of PTSD about Nashville. That wasn’t the first time this season that a lack of fuel took Hamlin out of contention, either. Talladega was the first instance in 2025.

Right now, Hamlin needs a good run. He has only one top-10 in the last five races. Since his run from Homestead to Bristol, P5, P1, P1, and P2, he has struggled. In the last four races, Hamlin has an average finish of 27.75. In fact, Charlotte was his best finish (P16) since Bristol.

For all of his struggles lately, Hamlin has managed to stay at 6th in points. He is just a couple of points behind Tyler Reddick for 5th and not too far from Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell in 4th and 3rd. However, he is 109 points back of the points leader, William Byron.

Will this week be the week that changes things for Denny Hamlin? Already with two wins this season, he is hoping to add another.