For the 19th time, Denny Hamlin's NASCAR championship hopes come to an end

Lost in the chaos and controversy of Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville was the story of Denny Hamlin. 

It wasn't just the story of Hamlin's race, which took a major turn before the green flag flew. It wasn't the story of Hamlin's season, which is now effectively over. 

It was another chapter in the story of Hamlin's Hall of Fame career that is still missing the best resume builder it could ask for: a NASCAR Cup Series championship.

A man who has made the NASCAR Playoffs in 18 of his 19 seasons will be denied a championship for the 19th time, thanks in large part to a mechanical failure he had no control over. 

Hamlin was third-fastest in Saturday's practice session at Martinsville, but a hung throttle sent his Camry into the wall, relegating him to a 37th-place starting spot on Sunday. 

An uphill battle on Sunday didn't seem to deter Hamlin on Sunday, as the 43-year-old found himself 15th after Stage 1 and third after Stage 2. 

In a must-win situation, Hamlin had a top-five car and plenty of time to get to the lead. 

Unfortunately, that top-five car was only good enough for fifth-place. Despite three top-eight finishes in the Round of 8, Hamlin didn't score enough points to advance to the Championship Four. 

2024 marks the third consecutive season that Hamlin will not advance to the championship race. In 2022, Ross Chastain's 'Hail Melon' at Martinsville knocked Hamlin out of the playoffs on the final lap of the round. In 2023, a mechanical failure at Homestead sent Hamlin into the wall and put him in a similar must-win situation at Martinsville, where a third-place, 53 point effort wasn't enough for him to advance. 

This year, Hamlin's postseason run was nearly doomed from the start. A major penalty before the playoffs started stripped Hamlin of 10 playoff points. A fourth-place finish at Bristol in the final race of the Round of 16 was needed just for Hamlin to make the Round of 12. 

At the end of the day, the fact that Hamlin even had an opportunity to win the title going into Martinsville was a miracle in and of itself. 

With that being said, it's another disappointing end to a season that held so much promise for Hamlin, who won three races by the time the calendar flipped to May. 

However, he hasn't won since Dover on April 28, and no winning speed ever seemed present for the No. 11 team in the playoffs until Martinsville, where everything went wrong on Saturday. 

Hamlin and his fans should be used to the perpetual heartbreak that dooms the No. 11 team on a yearly basis, but that doesn't make this defeat any better for the veteran driver. 

His cigar with Michael Jordan will have to wait at least one more year.