NASCAR CUP SERIES: EERO 400

July 5, 2026

Denny Hamlin

Pit Lane Interview

Q. That's right, Denny Hamlin extends his points lead, 44 points over Tyler Reddick. I know you were just hanging on for this third place finish in these closing laps. How would you assess the overall day, Denny?

DENNY HAMLIN: You know, I thought I was in control early on, even though I wasn't leading. I felt in control and probably got a little lazy on some restarts and things like that. Just taking for granted that I'll just go up and there get it.

Briscoe and Bell, they got their cars really good there the second half of the race, and Byron as well. You know, we just lost the balance there in stage 3. I got loose, lost ground, lost a couple of seconds. Then we went long and come out 9 seconds back, and I thought it was going to be really close to get there, but I just pushed it too far into the wall there with a few laps to go and had to settle for third.

Q. Take off that driver hat for a second and put on your owner hat. I know Tyler Reddick had the issues here today, but you got three of your guys in the top 10, including Corey Heim. What do you think about that for the 23XI organization?

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, great day for Reilly as well in the top 10. Bubba was pretty strong there when he was out front and leading and so that's a good day for them. Obviously the 45 just continues to bleed out here with some bad luck stuff going on or some mechanicals.

Once we get that figured out, we'll race it out.