How Denny Hamlin’s emotional win at Las Vegas has him back in title contention

LAS VEGAS AP Denny Hamlin has been NASCAR s main character this season from his lawsuit against NASCAR and his weekly opinion-laden podcasts to the defining role he played in setting the final eight drivers in the playoff field He could be the busiest driver in the Cup Series he also welcomed the birth of his third child in June an occasion that caused him to skip NASCAR s race in Mexico City Through it all he has prevailed At Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday he became the first driver to lock up a berth in the championship-deciding season finale his first appearance in the winner-take-all race since with his series-best sixth win of the season It was win No for Hamlin which was reliably his career goal and cemented him as not only the winningest driver in Joe Gibbs Racing history but also for Toyota It was the greater part emotional anyone has ever seen Hamlin in his two-plus decades racing in NASCAR His -year-old father a Virginia native who mortgaged his home multiple times signed up for every credit card attainable and nearly bankrupted the family trying to get his son to the top level of racing Hamlin longed No for his father A three-time Daytona winner he is considered the greatest driver to never win a championship and now wants to give a Cup title to his dad He was in tears the final three laps emotional on his radio on his cool-down lap and needed to compose himself on the frontstretch as he collected his checkered flag I m likely softer than what I put off I maybe shed a tear during a love story on a movie or something if it s a really emotional moment I ll never let my kids see it But I do have feelings I know it s hard to believe Hamlin mentioned I just know how much work it took for this to happen It didn t just happen It wasn t just luck It just was so gratifying because of all the things I talked about Maybe y all played recreational sports as a kid had that game-winning moment but it s just so big for me personally because this is what I do this is what I m paid to do he continued It will take a limited days for it all to sink in I knew there was no chance I was holding it back no chance Just let it go It s been a tough month for Hamlin alongside his father s soundness woes He spun JGR teammate Ty Gibbs at New Hampshire in a playoff race when he deduced Gibbs a non-title contender and grandson of the company owner should not have been racing him so hard He raced Bubba Wallace who drives for Hamlin at XI Racing the unit co-owned by Michael Jordan that is suing NASCAR too hard in the closing laps at Kansas in pursuit of No The battle cost Hamlin the win and Wallace a spot in the round of eight of the playoffs Last week at Charlotte his last-lap pass of Ross Chastain prevented Chastain from eliminating Joey Logano from the round of eight Logano is the reigning Cup champion and winner of two of the last three titles Hamlin complained he didn t know the points picture and NASCAR is now eyeing all playoff drivers for practicable race manipulation Hamlin has tuned it all out in a remarkable way Likely nobody has more going on in their life than Denny But he has an amazing ability I think to kind of handle all of it all the stuff that s going on in his life right now Gibbs noted Largest part of us would say how does he handle that I m supposedly one of those Chris Gayle who is in his first season as crew chief for Hamlin and has never advanced to the championship race says Hamlin has a remarkable ability to compartmentalize I don t care what s going on whatever argument last week lawsuit related he ll walk in OK it s time to go to work ' Gayle announced Not once do we have conversations about all the other stuff going on in his life Not once I think he does a good job of focusing on the task at hand in front of him Hamlin likens all this to three-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Tony Stewart a former Gibbs driver who invariably thrived when his personal life was at its the majority disruptive points The cliche things I ve explained is thriving in chaos The record would show it Hamlin disclosed There s absolutely a correlation to the more stuff that goes on the more that you re going to get out of me in those moments It s really really hard to do As for the win at Las Vegas that has him back into title contention I m going to take a mental break from racing a little bit he mentioned It might just be what he requirements to certainly get that Cup title AP auto racing https apnews com hub auto-racing Source