MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Almost lost in the final-turn scuffle at the end of Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway was the fact that Denny Hamlin nearly stole the victory.

Hamlin was running third when Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. got together while battling for the win in the last corner. As Logano and Truex slipped and slid onto the frontstretch, banging doors in the process, Hamlin dove to the bottom of the race track in an effort to pass them both.

Hamlin did beat Truex – who lost a ton of momentum as his tires spewed smoke on the home stretch – to the finish line for second, but Logano maintained just enough speed to take the checkered flag first and secure a place in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in three weeks’ time.

While title aspirations weren’t on the mind of Hamlin, who was eliminated from the playoffs at the end of the first round, he still wanted to win his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.

That meant that he was only thinking one thing coming towards the finish.

“(I wanted them to) crash harder,” Hamlin told SPEED SPORT. “Just crash harder. That’s all I was hoping would happen. We almost got there anyways. Just a little short.”

A five-time Martinsville winner, Hamlin had an uncharacteristically quiet day at the .526-mile paperclip. The Chesterfield, Va., native only led 31 laps at his home track, a far cry from the 111 laps led he had in the spring race this year.

Hamlin stayed in contention all afternoon, however, qualifying third and running amid the top five all afternoon long. He just ran out of time after enduring several late-race battles which he felt cost him time and track position.

“Man, it just took me so long to get around the 18 (Kyle Busch) and the 2 (Brad Keselowski),” said Hamlin. “Our car just would not take off on the short runs, even though it was so exceptionally good on the long run. To only have that 40‑lap run at the end was just killer for us.

Despite coming up short, Hamlin said he wouldn’t have changed his late-race approach to things.

I don’t think I would do anything different. I mean, I rode behind Kyle, trying to be respectful of him and his situation … because you don’t want to move a teammate out of the way, especially if he needs that one point when it comes down to the end,” noted Hamlin.

“I knew we were fast enough to drive up there and pass those guys. It just took me six or seven laps, maybe ten, to get around the 18 and then three or four more to get around the 2,” he added. “I just ran as hard as I could the last three laps to get as close to the front two as possible. … Just a tenth away.”

Considering he’s no longer a part of the title fight, Hamlin knew that being courteous to his teammate was the right call, even if it was difficult to swallow and do in the end.

“It stinks,” admitted Hamlin. “Ultimately, the reason we lost that track position is because we were letting teammates in. Ultimately that’s what we agreed upon. I would expect the same things from my teammates if I was in that (championship) situation … if they were me and I was them.

“It’s twofold; you hope you’re the guy getting let in next time. We worked really well together as teammates,” Hamlin continued. “I thought it was a great team effort and I was hoping one of our cars would get a win, but obviously they didn’t. We all had a good showing, though, and it looks like the two Toyotas that are left obviously are in a good points position – so that’s a good day.”

However, the 13-year veteran knew exactly how the last lap would play out once he saw Logano get in line off of turn two.

I knew it was coming. Everyone probably saw it was coming,” said Hamlin. “I just think it would have still been a cool battle if they would have just stayed side‑by‑side. I think the 22 thought he wasn’t going to win that way, though, so he did what he felt he had to do.”

Looking ahead, Hamlin hopes to extend his streak of consecutive seasons with a victory to 13, but he now only has three races left in which to do so.

“We’re running out of time,” said Hamlin. “That run means a lot to me. Hopefully we can hold on to it.”