Angry Hamlin close to Chase exit after “everything went wrong” in Kansas

After surviving a clash with Brad Keselowski with only minor damage, Hamlin finished 15^th at Kansas after two late-race pitlane penalties – and on the second occasion his team made two infractions during the same stop.

Exacerbated by an engine failure in Charlotte, he enters this weekend’s race at Talladega six points behind the crucial cut-off point to progress to the next elimination phase.

He needs to gain seven points on both Austin Dillon and Joey Logano to get inside the top eight who qualify.

“Terrible, just everything went wrong,” said Hamlin, who bounced back from a broken splitter to run in the top six before the penalties were assessed. “Just stupid stuff, and then penalties when we shouldn’t have ’em and just another year of mistakes.

“I just wish we could make things happen a little better. There’s not much else I can do.

Of the Chase drivers, Hamlin has one of the worst average finishing records at the Alabama superspeedway of 20^th, but has won a restrictor-plate race this year in the Daytona 500.

But he added: “I’ve got confidence I can win every single week on the racetrack. It’s just that it’s a team sport and you’ve got to have every facet of the car and team all put together, and we’ve just got to execute.

“I’ve got full confidence we can go to Talladega and win this week, and we’ll show that when we get there.”