Denny Hamlin had high expectations for Las Vegas, and it was hard not to after earning pole position in a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3-4.
He led the first 39 laps of the race, but after the first caution for Zane Smith spinning, Hamlin never returned to the lead.
The decision to pit put him back outside the top five and left him needing the rest of the stage just to get back to fourth. As he attempted to make up more lost ground, he ventured to the highest groove in Turns 3 and 4, but quickly lost control and spun.
Hamlin lost seven stage points and all of his track position in that moment, and apparently bent the splitter up as well as the No. 11 slid down onto the apron. The car was never the same after that, and his issues were further compounded by a brief loss of fuel pressure later in the race, costing him about a dozen spots.
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When the checkered flag waved, Hamlin had scored no stage points and finished 16th. He leaves Las Vegas 40 points behind Kyle Larson in the battle for the championship lead.
"I guess there was marbles up there, but I was just trying to get back to track position that we lost and just went up there and got the marbles and spun out, obviously damaged the car where it was nothing like it was before," said Hamlin, who seemed very down after the race.
"Yeah, I mean there's nothing you can do now post-race, so you just got to go on to the next race and see if you can't find a way to win and sure it will be good for us, but today certainly didn't live up to what we expected."
Later in a larger media scrum that featured Motorsport.com, Hamlin reflected on the first half of the Chase for the No. 11 team: "Not smooth, definitely not smooth. We haven't had any catastrophic days, but we've certainly had our fair share of not performing. Today, obviously leaving a bazillion points on the table, considering where we were on speed before the wreck..."
He tried his best to make up lost ground, but the spin was enough to throw the entire balance of the car out of whack given how sensitive the rear diffuser and front splitter are on modern Cup cars. "I tried to make up all the positions we could, but this car was very bad," lamented Hamlin.
Hamlin also had no idea what caused the fuel pressure issue, but again said that the track was dirty when he went up to the high groove, and spun because of the marbles he got on his tires.
On the decision to push hard to try and again get those two extra spots before the spin, Hamlin simply said he was "trying to get back to the spots that we lost" as "every point matters."
The good news for Hamlin is that while Larson finished second, he only scored one stage point, so Hamlin lost 14 points overall.
"I've not really digested it, truthfully," said Hamlin when told that. "You just gotta play the ball from where it lies, and where it lies is we got a little gap we gotta make up, so we gotta perform at our best."
The second half of the Chase begins with a return to Charlotte Motor Speedway next weekend, and another 1.5-mile intermediate track.
