Denny Hamlin is over a debacle a week ago in Fontana, Calif.

He just wishes everybody else was, too.

Hamlin, who started on the pole, likely saw his bid for his first NASCAR title evaporate with 60 laps to go when he mistakenly tried to cut off a hard-charging Juan Pablo Montoya on a double-file restart. He did not have enough room, and his No. 11 Toyota ended up spinning into the pit-road barrier. The crash sent him to a 37th-place finish and dropped him from sixth to ninth in the Chase for the Championship heading into the race tonight in Concord, N.C.

Hamlin made no excuses for the crash, blaming himself for the move that ended what had been a pretty steady run during NASCAR's playoffs.

"I was doing everything I could and just bit myself," Hamlin said. "It's just frustrates you for about two days, and then you get over it and then you hear someone say, 'Hey, man, sorry about last weekend.' Then, you're like, 'Well, I forgot about it until you said something.' "

The wreck capped a particularly rough weekend for Hamlin. He was subbing for a sick Kyle Busch in the Nationwide race a week ago when he got stuck between Brad Keselowski and Greg Biffle. The ensuing wreck ended his race early and allowed Carl Edwards to take a bite out of Busch's Nationwide points lead.

Hamlin trails Jimmie Johnson, who is on the pole tonight, by 219 points with six races left in the season. He is not quite ready to say he is out of it, but knows finishing in the top five may be a more realistic goal.

"The way this format is, the way this points system is, your [wins] don't help you as much as the losses kill you, especially racing against that many guys," he said.

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NOTE -- A judge in Tennessee ruled that Bristol Motor Speedway does not have to pay $397,000 in taxes for broadcast revenue it made on NASCAR races. The speedway challenged an assessment last year, claiming the state Department of Revenue was illegally taxing the track by claiming NASCAR was paying the track for a service.

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