Denny Hamlin explains Las Vegas spin, costly result as Kyle Larson pulls away

Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway couldn't have gone much worse for Denny Hamlin.

While his championship rival in Kyle Larson finished second, Hamlin finished all the way back in 16th. A series of unfortunate events got him there. 

The winner of the last two NASCAR Cup Series races at Las Vegas, Hamlin started from the pole and led 39 laps in the early going. After some strategy shuffled him out of the lead, he was in position to finish fourth in Stage 1 and collect seven crucial stage points that would've been especially big because Larson, who struggled to get a handle on his No. 5 Chevy early, was outside of the top 10. 

Instead, Hamlin spun on Lap 88, incurring minor splitter damage to his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that hindered it for the rest of the day. 

What went wrong for Denny Hamlin at Las Vegas?

"I guess there was marbles up there," Hamlin told USA Network of the early spin. "Just trying to get back the track position that we lost. Went up there, got in the marbles and spun out. Obviously, damaged the car to where it was nothing like it was before."

Hamlin's damaged car didn't drive well for the rest of the race, especially in dirty air. There was a glimmer of hope when Hamlin got up to 11th prior to what turned out to be the race's final restart, but fuel pressure issues relegated him to 23rd and forced him to claw his way back into the top 20. 

The only silver lining for Hamlin and the No. 11 team is that Larson, who finished runner-up to race winner Chase Briscoe, was held out of victory lane. A win would've given Larson an additional 20 points and boosted his advantage over Hamlin to 60 points, nearly a full race, with only five events left in the season. 

"There's nothing you can do now, post-race," Hamlin said. "Just gotta go on to the next race and see if you can't find a way to win. Charlotte will be good for us. Today certainly didn't live up to what we expected."

Hamlin finished third at Charlotte in May in the Coca-Cola 600 and will likely be in contention for the win next week, but don't be surprised if Larson is in lockstep with him. A win, or at least a top five finish, will be crucial for Hamlin if he is to get back to the top of the standings.