​Denny Hamlin spent the opening portion of Sunday’s Bank of America 400 looking like a driver capable of winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway. By the checkered flag, he was wondering where all that speed had gone.The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran finished fifth, salvaging a top-five result despite pit-road trouble, a run-in with championship rival Kyle Larson and a No. 11 Toyota that gradually lost its advantage as track conditions changed.For a driver chasing his first NASCAR Cup Series championship, fifth place wasn’t enough to leave him satisfied.“Lackluster day,” Hamlin said during a separate post-race interview on pit road.“We were a winning car for the first 100 laps.”That was what bothered him most. Hamlin believed he had a car capable of much more, but the performance simply wasn’t there when it mattered.Denny Hamlin’s Charlotte Race Unravels After Promising StartHamlin started 12th after Saturday’s qualifying session was canceled because of rain and quickly worked his way into the top 10.His progress was interrupted when Connor Zilisch’s No. 88 Chevrolet boxed him into his pit stall, costing valuable positions. A separate pit-road safety violation, triggered when a crew member stumbled while retrieving a loose tire, added to his problems.Hamlin recovered, but his car’s handling became a bigger concern as the afternoon progressed.“Just didn’t have the long run speed that we needed,” Hamlin said. “I thought the short run was OK, it was decent.”The changing conditions didn’t help.“When the track cooled off, it just is not what I really planned on and it certainly leveled the field,” he explained.By the closing laps, Hamlin could no longer maintain the pace that had made him a contender earlier in the race.Hamlin Addresses Contact With Kyle Larson and Championship DeficitHamlin’s afternoon also included contact with Larson during a Lap 123 restart.The two championship contenders were battling for position when Hamlin moved to the inside and made contact with Larson’s Chevrolet, sending the No. 5 up the track.Hamlin offered his perspective afterward.“I got to the inside and I think he was trying to cover the spot. But I was already there,” he said.Larson recovered to finish sixth, one position behind Hamlin.Despite finishing ahead of the championship leader, Hamlin actually lost ground in the standings. He remains second, now 49 points behind Larson with four races remaining.Hamlin wasn’t interested in making excuses.“Got to execute better, be a little faster, all the above,” he said. “Ultimately we’re giving it all we got right now.”Charlotte wasn’t a disaster. Hamlin still earned a top-five finish and remains firmly in the championship fight.But with the season slipping away, he knows that having a winning car for part of an afternoon won’t be enough.