Denny Hamlin out of the Texas Cup race after facing a fiery mechanical problem 

Denny Hamlin had tough luck at Texas Motor Speedway after settling with the first DNF of the 267-lap contest. His #11 Toyota Camry experienced an engine failure, resulting in a fire-induced incident before stopping on the track and bringing out the caution.

Hamlin, who started the mile-and-a-half race in eighth place, was driving slowly on lap 75 when his Toyota caught fire exiting turn one. The car got sideways before parking near the inside wall, allowing race marshals to attend to the incident and douse the fire.

NASCAR took to X (formerly Twitter) and said Denny Hamlin got out of his car safely. The sanctioning body also announced that the 44-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver was evaluated and released from the infield care center.

"A big mechanical problem on @dennyhamlin's No. 11 machine. He climbed from the vehicle following the slide," NASCAR wrote.

The engine failure wasn't the only setback Denny Hamlin encountered at the Fort Worth circuit. He also had miscommunication with the #11 team over an overheard code, which forced him to stay out when he was called in to pit.

To make matters worse, the 56-time Cup race winner was caught speeding in a closed pit lane on lap 24. He was sent to the back before prematurely leaving the track early due to the race-ending mechanical failure.

Denny Hamlin driving the #11 Toyota Camry at Texas Motor Speedway - Source: Getty

The DNF at Texas Motor Speedway is Hamlin's first of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. On the bright side, the #11 driver has been having a good start to the year otherwise with five top-5 and six top-10 finishes, including a back-to-back win from Martinsville and Darlington.

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"Miscommunication between me and the team": Denny Hamlin on unfortunate pit stop call at Texas

After getting released from the infield care center, Denny Hamlin talked to veteran NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass about his misfortunes at Texas Motor Speedway. Hamlin admitted that he and the #11 team had a miscommunication over a pit call over a radio code.

The long-time Joe Gibbs Racing driver said (via Bob Pockrass on X):

"Miscommunication between me and the team. They gave me a code, it was too close to another code, and I just got mixed up there."

The Toyota pilot also explained why he stopped the car on the track. He said he didn't want further damage to the engine to allow the manufacturer to identify the culprit more easily.

"I didn't want to let it try to blow all the way. That way, we could at least take a look at it and figure it out. If you detonate them hard, then it's really hard for the manufacturer to figure out exactly what broke first. But usually, the way it blew up, they'll be able to find out," he added.

Hamlin will return to action at Kansas Speedway next week. The AdventHealth 400 is scheduled for May 11 at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1. It will be the last event before NASCAR hosts the All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway.