Denny Hamlin’s playoff dreams took another gut punch at Kansas Speedway’s Hollywood Casino 400, and the frustration was raw. Leading off pit road on Lap 213, Hamlin had the No. 11 Toyota humming, holding off Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, and a pack of playoff heavyweights.

But by Lap 215, disaster loomed. “There is something wrong with the f****** steering. It’s sticking bad,” he radioed, his voice dripping with dread. “If I swerve, when I go to the right, it goes ‘click, click’ … I think it’s broke! F**k! Power steering.”

Without power steering, a must for Next Gen cars, Hamlin’s race was unraveling fast. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t f*ing believe it,” he vented, the weight of another playoff setback crashing down. Then came the gut-wrenching kicker: “ Every year. Every. Year

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