“We have been back and forth…That’s been the story of the last month, and that’s a shame.” The month of May has not been particularly graceful for Denny Hamlin. In Texas, his No. 11 Toyota’s engine blew up and caught fire. Then, in Kansas, a transaxle failure took him out of the race early. Hamlin finally looked poised for a good finish in Charlotte – until a grave mistake at the pit road scuttled his solid run.

Denny Hamlin’s pit crew has been under the spotlight for its various achievements. For instance, the 8.3-second pit stop in Darlington allowed Hamlin to topple his rivals and charge for the victory. However, the same stellar team could not perform on Sunday, as Hamlin’s crew chief shed light on the topic.

Just a little gap sealed Denny Hamlin’s day

We all witnessed what a fiery contender the No. 11 Toyota was on Sunday. Denny Hamlin felt nervous ahead of the Coca-Cola 600, but none of that was visible. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran dominated for 53 laps, exchanging the lead with William Byron 12 times. Hamlin wanted to take this party beyond lap 348, when both competitors pitted. Byron barely beat Hamlin off the pit road, and soon after, Chris Gayle, the No. 11 crew chief, realized that there was a fuel discrepancy. Hamlin was short on approximately four gallons of fuel that cost him the last 12 laps. So he had to pit again on lap 389 while Ross Chastain battled Byron for the race win. Just like that, the 2022 Coke 600 winner’s ambitions went up in smoke.

Denny Hamlin avoided blaming his pit crew as best as he could. Nevertheless, the fuel can used by fueler Kenneth Purcell either malfunctioned or was not engaged properly. Chris Gayle shed light on the marginal error that he could not figure out live or from video. He said, “For whatever reason, the second can, when they plugged it, barely took any fuel at all. I can’t tell from the view right now if it’s a bad plug, like open on the bottom. We saw a bunch of fuel coming out of the bottom. But it got about four gallons less than we expected. I would have needed to sit there for another two seconds to get four gallons in it. Unfortunate.”

To add salt to his wounds, Denny Hamlin found a bunch of Hendrick Motorsports fanatics hounding him. Some HMS fans believed he was responsible for William Byron losing out to Ross Chastain. That makes no sense, as Hamlin had already lost the fuel gamble when Chastain overtook Byron. He fumed in an ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode: “What the f— are people watching? I was behind him when he stepped on his d—.” He added, “Are they that dumb? How can I hold him up when I’m behind him? How can people be that dumb? If you said that, you’re an idiot. That is just asinine…Anyway, you think I give a f— at that point?”

Clearly, the Charlotte race ended on a bitter note for the JGR veteran. However, not all things were bad for Denny Hamlin as he praised off-track duties.

Trending

1

How Much Money Did Kyle Larson Make From His Indy 500 Run? Here Is Everything You Need to Know

2

“There Aren’t Enough Curse Words”: Teresa Earnhardt’s Name Dragged Through the Mud by Fans Months After Earning Goodwill

3

FOX Sports Exec Riles Up NASCAR Fans With Bold Take Amidst Prime Video’s Takeover

4

Unseen Footage of NASCAR’s Most Bizarre On-Track Incident Unearthed

5

NASCAR Rumor: Rick Hendrick Pulls Away Toyota Prospect as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Lets Slip Major Xfinity Update

New media partner gets its share of praise

Amazon Prime made its debut in the NASCAR Cup Series last Sunday, ensuring everything was picture-perfect. It promised a double-box format for commercials and racing and delivered and offered a ‘Shop the Race’ feature, all heart-warming efforts for the fans. Most importantly, it went above and beyond to recruit a star-studded broadcast crew. Carl Edwards, a Cup Series legend, had retired abruptly back in 2016. No amount of coaxing could pull him back to his roots in the years since. However, Amazon did it – from visiting his Missouri house to attending a Jiu-Jitsu class with him, it convinced the driver to come back. Thus, Edwards joined the studio with Corey LaJoie and Daniell Trotta.

Denny Hamlin heaped praises on this team, which conducted a special show after the Coca-Cola 600 concluded. He said, “I did get to watch the post-race show. Thought that was fantastic. Their on-air talent is super smart with their analysis. They hired all the right people.” William Byron, who lost the race lead to Ross Chastain with 5 laps left, was also called to this booth. Despite the difficulty in facing the camera after such a heartbreak, Hamlin said it may have been worth it. He said, “I saw Byron had to go up there and do that. But yeah, you’re going to get the rawest emotions in that moment.”

Hence, not all was bitter and forgettable for Denny Hamlin in Charlotte. As the Cup Series season pushes forward, let us hope that the JGR veteran redeems his team’s failures soon.