The unforgiving nature of the NASCAR Cup Series often rears its head when drivers least expect it. In the critical Round of 8, one misstep can transform months of stellar performances into a bitter pill to swallow. Just ask Denny Hamlin, who recently had to confront the harsh reality of the series during a fateful day at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Denny Hamlin was contending for a crucial playoff position in the top 4 in Miami. However, his aspirations took a hit as a technical issue struck his car, making it impossible for him to continue. This untimely failure left Hamlin no choice but to retire from the race, dealing a severe blow to his championship hopes and relegating him to 7th place below the playoff cutline.

Chris Gabehart explains what actually happened to Hamlin’s car in Miami

Denny Hamlin’s racing career has been marked by remarkable consistency, making him a perennial contender for the NASCAR Cup Series championship. However, despite his impressive body of work, fate has an uncanny way of throwing wrenches into his championship aspirations. Last season, it was Ross Chastain who played the spoiler. This year, Toyota blew it up for him.

The cause of Denny Hamlin’s abrupt steering wheel malfunction, which was initially a source of speculation, has been elucidated by his crew chief, Chris Gabehart. Gabehart’s explanation provides clarity on the incident that changed the course of the race for Hamlin.

Bob Pockrass shared Gabehart’s explanation via a tweet that read, “What happened to Hamlin at Homestead? Crew chief Chris Gabehart says what appeared to happen was during [a] downshift. An odd instantaneous power steering failure occurred & ripped the wheel out of Hamlin’s hand. When shifting, there’s a spike in RPM, which is a violent event for the system.”

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Gabehardt’s explanation does not match up with what Denny Hamlin said earlier about the malfunction. It seemed like Hamlin was deliberately not trying to blame his team’s manufacturer.

Toyota might be to blame despite Denny Hamlin’s denial

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In the wake of his misfortune at Homestead. Denny Hamlin has skillfully sidestepped questions about the specific issues that caused his retirement. While an opportunity for redemption awaits at Martinsville, Hamlin has been notably tight-lipped about putting a firm finger on who’s to blame for his misfortune.

When his car veered towards the wall and wrecked, Hamlin speculated over the radio about a potential steering malfunction. But when he was explaining the incident on his podcast, his narrative appeared somewhat inconsistent. At first, he mentioned, “We don’t know yet. There are a couple of options that we are looking at, one being the power steering just went out. That’s one option for sure. And the other could be a suspension part that broke. We don’t know which one.”

But just seconds later he seemed sure about a suspension failure. “Certainly something should have broken the suspension part,” he said. “I mean, it didn’t break a toe link; it shouldn’t break anything else. And after I’d hit the wall, we hadn’t observed any data that showed anything. For me, the steering was all aligned and, like, all fast, so there was nothing out of the blue. Something clearly was a fracture.”

The difference in narratives between Hamlin and Gabehart revolves around the cause of the failure. While Hamlin’s initial thoughts included the possibility of a suspension part breaking, Gabehart’s account points to an instantaneous power steering failure during a downshift as the primary issue. But after Gabehart cleared the air, it was clear that Toyota had messed up Hamlin’s championship hopes. The car’s systems should have been more resilient during such a critical phase of the season.

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Denny Hamlin will undoubtedly be eager to put this misfortune behind him and focus on securing his elusive championship dream by winning at Martinsville.