Denny Hamlin reacts after failing to outperform Ryan Blaney in his 700th NASCAR start

Despite taking the Stage 1 victory this weekend in the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, Denny Hamlin fell short of logging his third victory of the season. Ryan Blaney was faster and emerged victorious in the 300-lap event.

Hamlin settled for a P3 finish behind series newcomer Carson Hocevar, in what was the former's 700th career start in the NASCAR Cup Series. With that, the Joe Gibbs Racing icon etched his name alongside 21 other drivers who have pulled off the feat already, including NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson.

Reflecting on Blaney’s dominance on the long runs, Denny Hamlin told reporter Alan Cavana (via X):

“Just needed to be a little faster. The 12 (driven by Ryan Blaney) had exceptional long-run speed, just couldn't hang with him after about 40 laps on tires. They just had a lot of speed, we were kind of next in line.”

PRN

@@PRNlive

Denny Hamlin comes home third in his 700th start.

"Just needed to be a little faster," he tells @AlanCavanna."The 12 had exceptional long-run speed, just couldn't hang with him after about 40 laps on tires. They just had a lot of speed, we were kind of next in line."

Nashville marked Denny Hamlin’s 14th race of the 2025 season. He sits fourth in the championship standings with six top-fives and seven top-10s to his credit. He is currently at 56 wins, placing him 11th on the all-time list.

Next up for him is the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Scheduled for June 8, the 200-lap event will feature on Amazon Prime Video with live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 car for 23XI Racing (which Denny Hamlin owns), happens to be the defending champion of the race.

Denny Hamlin reflects on an “unacceptable” failure in his No. 11 Toyota Camry

As Stage 3 of Sunday’s (June 1) Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville was underway, Denny Hamlin’s in-car air system stopped working. This resulted in a subsequent air hose failure. His water system failed soon after, giving the driver quite a hard time.

Given his tally of 79 laps led before the unforeseen turn of events, Hamlin was not the happiest with his team. He radioed (as quoted by Yardbarker):

“I’ve lost my fu****g helmet hose. … Fu***ng unacceptable.”

Hamlin had to finish the stage with his visor down. However, soon after the race, he took off to be with his fiancée, Jordan Fish, who is expecting their third child and first son.

“I can’t miss it,” Hamlin said during an interview with NBC's Dustin Long on Saturday. “I certainly got to be there for her and that’s obviously the biggest priority. Just wish she would hang on a little bit longer.”

Joe Gibbs Racing's reserve driver, Ryan Truex, would have filled in for Hamlin had Fish gone into labor on Sunday itself. NASCAR would be expected to grant him a playoff waiver in that case. But thankfully, it didn’t come to that.