Chris Gayle shares honest take on Denny Hamlin leaving Phoenix without NASCAR championship

Denny Hamlin's crew chief, Chris Gayle, shared his take on the #11 driver and his unfortunate end to the season. Speaking to the media after the race, Gayle stated that Hamlin is a champion even though he does not have a trophy.

Coming into Phoenix, Hamlin was one of the hot favorites for the title, and on top of that, a pole on Saturday lined things up for him perfectly. However, his day came to a brutal end after William Byron brought in a race-altering caution.

With three laps to go, Hamlin was leading the race by over three seconds. However, Byron's malfunction brought in overtime, and in the end, he ended up losing the race despite leading 208 laps on Sunday.

Gayle, who joined Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing's #11 car, shared his take after the race. Speaking to the media, he revealed that Hamlin prepared like a champion and did everything he could:

"The only thing I said to him was he prepared like a champion," Gayle told Kelly Crandall. "He’s not going to walk away from here with the trophy, but he prepared like one. He did everything he could do all weekend, the three weeks leading up, really all year, and even though he doesn’t have the trophy, I feel like he’s a champion."

After starting from the pole, Hamlin dropped back to third place by the end of Stage 1. However, he improved to the race lead in Stage 2 and went on to lead the race in Stage 3. But Byron's malfunction caused the field to close up, and Hamlin lost the race eventually.

Ryan Blaney of Team Penske won the race, ahead of Brad Keselowski. Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch finished in the Top five. Kyle Larson won the title, while other Championship contenders, Chase Briscoe and Byron, ended their race in 18th and 33rd places.

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Denny Hamlin after the race: "It was evident who was the best today"

Denny Hamlin let his feelings known after losing out on the Championship 4 race at Phoenix. The #11 driver, who was in contention for the title for the fourth time in seven years, came up just short. As the race ended, here's what the JGR driver said:

Denny Hamlin (11) pits fo tyres during the Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. - Source: Imagn

"Kyle Larson has the trophy, but we dominated, we did our job, we did the best we could. They're a championship team and championship driver, and they're going to win a hell of a lot more than just these two, but when everyone had to bring their best, it was evident who was the best today."

Denny Hamlin wrapped up his season in second place, behind Kyle Larson, where he claimed six wins, 14 Top 5s, and 18 Top 10s. He led 1024 laps in total, the third most overall.

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Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas