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Denny Hamlin fumes on radio after narrowly losing to Christopher Bell at Phoenix

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Jonathan Howard | Last updated Mar 9, 2025 10:13 PM ET

It felt like Denny Hamlin had put himself in the right place at the right time once again to steal a win, but it wasn’t meant to be. Christopher Bell went on to win his third straight race in the NASCAR Cup Series in just the first month of the season.

Denny Hamlin has expressed that he hates to lose but losing to teammates hurts a little more. He wants to be the top driver at Joe Gibbs Racing, straight up. He didn’t race Bell dirty, but he wanted that one badly.

After the checkered flag, Hamlin’s team gave him congratulations for a strong runner-up finish. Hamlin was not hearing it. He let out a few NSFW words. Check out the video via Steven Taranto of CBS Sports (viewer discretion advised).

Denny Hamlin did what he had to do today for the most part. He didn’t get over his head. His team kept him in the race from start to finish. However, he came up short. Bell has won three races in a row, it’s just his time right now. No shame in P2 today at Phoenix.

I’m sure that Denny is wondering how he can get that speed in his car. As Chris Gayle and Hamlin continue to figure one another out they will improve this season. P6 at Atlanta, P2 at Phoenix. P21 at COTA wasn’t anyone’s fault as Hamlin raced a damaged car from Lap 1 to the finish. And Daytona happened to the 11 team as well.

Good news for Hamlin the next six tracks are in his wheelhouse. Vegas, Homestead, Martinsville, Darlington, Bristol, and even Talladega. These are all tracks Hamlin can win at. It is not going to be easy, though.

Denny Hamlin reacts to Christopher Bell win

Following the finish, you could tell that Denny Hamlin was not happy. He thought he was going to be able to get in there and steal the win from Christopher Bell. It almost happened, too.

What I love is that Bell didn’t put Hamlin in the wall. We saw that in the ARCA and Xfinity Series races. Bell could have done it, easily, but didn’t. Still, Hamlin was a bit disappointed.

“Yeah, great job by the Sport Clips team,” Denny said in a post-race interview on FS1. “They just got better and better as it went. Pit crew did a phenomenal job to keep us in the game when we had a bad stop in the middle, and they made up for it in the end.”

That pit crew did a great job. Christopher Bell’s crew was perfect on the day. Denny Hamlin came up short to the best car on the track and apparently, the best driver in the Cup Series.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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