Hamlin disappointed with third

Hamlin led the field on the penultimate restart after a quick final stop had put him ahead of the Roush Fenway duo of Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. But Edwards got by him immediately and he was unable to fight back for the lead.

On the last lap, while running second, he was overtaken by a charging Jimmie Johnson.

The reigning champion drove round the outside of Hamlin and got him 'aero loose' and sideways in turn three, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was able to save the car from a spin and also avoided hitting Johnson in the process.

"We struggled to get going on the restarts, which is fine," said Hamlin. "We were still okay. But, the No.99 (Carl Edwards) was coming. I think I was in the middle of the track versus going high or low and he hit us. When he did, it knocked us down the race track.

"He chose what lane he wanted to be in when he hit us. Once you get the guy on the outside on the restart, it's over. That second groove is really, really good for a few laps. Once he knocked us down to the bottom right there, it was over with.

"The last lap with Jimmie (Johnson), he just had position on the outside. Our car was really loose to begin with. With him beside us, we almost took him and myself out."

Hamlin believes he had the car to win heading into the closing stages of the race, but felt he simply let victory slip away on the penultimate restart.

"With 60 to go, I was thinking if we're going to win, we definitely did not put this on our calendar to feel like we had a really good shot at winning," said Hamlin.

"We knew we could run well. It takes a really, really good car to win here. You've really got to have a great car. We had it today but just let it slip."

The Virginian is currently 11th in the Chase standings, only ahead of teammate Kyle Busch who finished the race in fifth place.