When Denny Hamlin fired up his engines in Martinsville, optimism overflowed. He was fresh off a victory in Richmond, and the Virginia native already owned five victories on his hometown track. Yet as the race progressed, Hamlin’s bleak prospects dawned upon the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

Denny Hamlin made a controversial move on his own teammate in Richmond. Now, an entire gang of the Hendrick Motorsports team used the same strategy to topple him from the lead. What a difference one week makes! Hamlin cursed himself for his sloppy moves.

Denny Hamlin got a taste of his own medicine

Karma works in unexpected ways. In Richmond, Denny Hamlin ruined Martin Truex Jr’s lap domination with a lightning-fast pit stop. Then Hamlin went on to make a borderline illegal jumpstart that sealed MTJ’s hopes of winning. As Hamlin cruised to victory, little did he know that a fate similar to his teammate’s was awaiting him next weekend.

Hamlin started from the 17th spot and carved out a path forward, finishing 7th in the first stage. Then his luck seemed to be on the right track, as he won Stage 2 on lap 180. Hamlin led for 66 laps, fighting with Chase Elliott for the lead. But the call for a green flag stop on lap 299 upended his dreams.

Denny Hamlin’s pit stop timing fell short, and three Hendrick drivers took advantage of that. Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and William Byron all overtook the No. 11 car, shuffling the leaderboard for the final time. The ordeal put Hamlin in the top five, as Hamlin vented over the radio: “Two seconds slower on pit road because I’m s**ting so bad. I mean, it was awful.”

But, as it turned out, Denny Hamlin’s misfortune did not end there. The final caution came out on lap 397 when John Hunter Nemechek slammed into the wall while setting ablaze his right front tire. That gave the No. 11 team to grab victory. But a poor pit call ruined that window of opportunity. Crew chief Chris Gabehart called Hamlin for four tires, while the rest of the leaders stayed out. Hamlin rejoined in 10th place and ended with a disappointing 11th-place finish, a far cry from last weekend’s stellar performance.

However, Denny Hamlin observed that poor pit strategy was not the only thing that axed his Martinsville chances.

Hamlin blamed smoother tires

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The iconic Bristol race remains bright in motorheads’ memories. The unexpected tire management challenge pushed drivers to use good strategies. And the veteran drivers excelled in this assignment, including Denny Hamlin. Overall, the race allowed for greater passing due to high-wear tires. 

But Martinsville was different, as the Next Gen car coupled with smoother tires made passing an ordeal. That is what Hamlin emphasized in a post-race interview. “We were just trying to do anything we could to steal one with our Sport Clips Toyota. We needed so many cars to do it — even still — the tires didn’t wear enough to matter…Tires didn’t wear, and we just struggled to pass all day. Once I came out of that cycle — third or fourth — that’s kind of just where I stayed.”

Hamlin’s short-track fortunes are mixed, as his Martinsville fate snapped the earlier streak at Bristol and Richmond. 

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