Denny Hamlin reacts to advancing to NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12

Despite coming into the weekend six points in the red, Denny Hamlin found the will and the way to advance to the Round of 12. Hamlin is moving on in the NASCAR Playoffs.

It was not a guaranteed thing. Denny Hamlin easily could have found himself struggling like other drivers did tonight. But a good qualifying effort on Friday set him up for a great top-5 finish at Bristol.

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Even though Hamlin advanced, he was disappointed. Kyle Larson dominated and led all but 38 laps at Bristol. No one, even Hamlin, could touch the 5 team tonight.

"I mean, my aspirations was [sic] to win it, you know?" Hamlin said after the race. "But uh it looked like the five there just was better than all of us. But yeah solid car, I thought we were really good towards the middle stages and then there at the end just got too loose and couldn't hang on to what we had there. But overall, top-5 day. Good stage points, kind of in the mix. Just not really, you know, as good as what we've been here in the last couple times. But overall I thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with."

When asked about the Round of 12 races, Denny Hamlin confirmed – he's excited. Kansas, Talladega, and the Roval line up with Hamlin's strengths overall.

"Yeah certainly, it's all offense from this point forward," the JGR driver continued. "We got to Kansas, a track we've been really really good at and yeah, I'm looking forward to the rest."

Four drivers were eliminated tonight. Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, and Harrison Burton will not move on to the Round of 12.

This is a developing story...