Flat tire, speeding penalty at Phoenix leave Denny Hamlin unable to capitalize on Kyle Larson's poor day

With points leader Kyle Larson dropping out of Sunday's Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway, there was a major opportunity on the table for Denny Hamlin to get within single digits of Larson in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with three races left in the season. 

The problem was that the opportunity had been squandered, first by Lady Luck and then by Hamlin himself, roughly 60 laps before Larson had a flat tire that sent him into the outside wall and relegated him to a 34th-place finish. 

Hamlin, who was running fourth on Lap 223 and had an opportunity to capitalize on a day where Larson hadn't had any semblance of speed, suffered a flat right rear tire as many of his peers did on Sunday afternoon. While he was able to nurse his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to pit road, he committed a penalty his fans have become all too accustomed to during his 21-year career: speeding. 

Flat tire, speeding penalty derails Denny Hamlin's race at Phoenix

"Just the corner before, felt the car bottom out," Hamlin told USA Network. "Knew at that point I had a tire [going down]. Obviously, had no idea where I was on speed with no right rear tire on it."

Thanks to a caution that came out right after Hamlin's flat tire for a spinning Cody Ware, Hamlin would've been able to get back on the lead lap via the free pass after making his unscheduled green flag pit stop. But the penalty not only took the free pass, but also the wave around away from Hamlin, trapping him one lap down. 

Hamlin was unable to get back on the lead lap for the rest of the race, languishing outside the top 25 and finishing in 28th as the first car one lap down. While he did gain 18 points on Larson in the standings, he slipped to fourth and is 31 points back of the leader going into Talladega on Oct. 18. 

"The beginning was not great once we got back in traffic," Hamlin said. "But I thought the second half of the race we were really strong. Definitely not ideal. What can you do?"

If Hamlin can't snag his first championship at season's end, Sunday's result will certainly be looked at as an inflection point of his season.