Dramatic fire ends Denny Hamlin's Texas NASCAR Cup race
Denny Hamlin became the first driver to fall out of the race Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway with his day ending in a dramatic oil fire.
Hamlin was attempting to make up ground after some early miscommunication with the team. When Noah Gragson spun, forcing the first yellow flag of the race, the entire field dove to the pits ... except Hamlin. In some confusion over code words, he stayed out when he was meant to pit. He came to pit road alone, falling to the very rear of the field.
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A frustrated Hamlin began his march forward, but it was slow going as passing is extremely difficult at the modern version of Texas. However, the No. 11 Toyota Camry began to slow abruptly with just a few laps to go in the stage. Off the pace, the car spun out in Turn 1, as flames erupted from under the car in what appeared to be an oil fire.
This will mark Hamlin's first DNF of the 2025 season, finishing 38th (last). He completed just 75 of 267 laps before the mechanical failure. It also ended an impressive streak of 21 consecutive lead lap finishes for Hamlin. The first stage ended under caution with Austin Cindric collecting taking the 'win' and collecting ten valuable bonus points.
'It was blowing up for about a lap or so before it really detonated," said Hamlin. "I tried to keep it off to keep it from full detonating, that was they can diagnose exactly what happened to it. It's tough to say exactly what it is, but they'll go back and look at it and we'll find out in a few weeks.'
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Speaking more on the rash of mechanical gremlins plaguing the Toyota camp, Hamlin said, 'I'm not really sure. I've had blown engines in two or three season in-a-row now where we didn't have any issues several years prior to that. Just trying to develop I'm guessing and trying to get more. Certainly, we feel like we need to get a bit more power but this was unexpected for us.'
Photos from Texas - Race
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
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Sean Gardner / Getty Images
NASCAR President Steve Phelps
NASCAR President Steve Phelps
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
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James Gilbert / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
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Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
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Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford
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Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford
Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford
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Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
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Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
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Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Mark Faber, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Texas Motor Speedway
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Mark Faber, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Texas Motor Speedway
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Mark Faber, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Texas Motor Speedway
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Mark Faber, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Texas Motor Speedway
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
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Sean Gardner / Getty Images
General view
General view
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James Gilbert / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
General view
General view
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
General view
General view
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford, Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford, Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team Ford
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
General view
General view
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford, Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford, Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Chris Buescher, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Chris Buescher, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images
Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images
Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images
Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Chris Graythen - Getty Images
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