The playoff race at Kansas was nothing but a hill of disappointment for Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. What seemed as one of the strongest contenders for the championship in the regular season, now limps in the playoffs with two races over. While the regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. fell below the cutline and Christopher Bell struggled with pit-crew problems, Denny Hamlin surprisingly, revealed that he was ‘sleeping’ in the final restart.

To make a case for Denny Hamlin, Kansas has been one of the strongest turf for the driver and let’s not forget he also secured a victory on the same track, in the spring race. However, the hiccups that the driver encountered this past Sunday threw a spanner in the works. Furthermore, apart from losing out to Tyler Reddick, Hamlin seemed to be complacent. The question that arises at this juncture is whether this attitude is the reason for his downfall in the championship hunt. Well, the NASCAR veteran believes so.

Hendrick Motorsports star draws an uncanny reference to Denny Hamlin

The Kansas Speedway witnessed one of the nail-biting and ambitious races by the drivers. In a race marked with spinning cars and blown-out tires, Denny Hamlin had firm control in the race as he led a total of 63 laps and was on the brink of defending his crown. However, the driver failed to capitalize on the late restart, even after taking four fresh tires. 

Hamlin was surrounded by multiple cars after exiting the pit road and, instead of making his way to the front, he was stuck with the commotion that ensued at the back of the field. This resulted in the driver losing out in netting another victory in the playoffs. Furthermore, Hamlin seemed to be nonchalant of losing another victory, an uncharacteristic demeanor of the driver. 

This oddity in Hamlin did not sit well among the NASCAR veterans, especially Hendrick Motorsports legend Steve Letarte, who considered it might jeopardize his championship contention. In his conversation with his co-hosts of Dirty Mo Dough, Letart expressed, “He looked pretty good, till a loose wheel and that was what happened. Can we give the launcher award, because I know you are on the edge to give it out? Giving it to DH, pit crew, like what is the placing.”

The Chopper retorted, “I gotta put it on the pit crew and I am gonna put it on him for not being upset about it. Listening to his podcast, ‘We have done a great job, first ever in the Next-Gen car.’ Come on man.”

Speaking on the pit crew problem, Letarte expressed, “I see your point that you are not trying to get your pit crew all fired up in week 1. I will go on with the Deion approach. If you don’t like it don’t play here, if you don’t like me, don’t start on my team. Like we want Denny Hamlin, in Denny Hamlin swagger. I don’t want Jordan wearing the jet-flying, that’s the Denny Hamlin that wins races, and that’s the Denny Hamlin that chews on his pit crew.

“Pit crew as a matter of fact when he didn’t chew them probably like, is Denny okay? Is he feeling okay? Because this doesn’t sound like Denny. We want flashy Denny”

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Denny Hamlin recalls his grave mistake that cost him his Kansas win

Although Denny Hamlin finished 2nd in the race, what pinched him the most was the fact that he lost out to Tyler Reddick a car that he owns. Nevertheless, pointing out his lapse of judgment, as reported by the RACER, Hamlin expressed, “I should have just focused forward, probably. It gave the No. 45 [Reddick] an opportunity to get up there in front of us, so just kind of sleeping on the restart, looking in the rearview instead of looking in the front[…].”

“But the No. 45 just did a great job of executing. They executed the restart really, really well. It makes me happy that if it wasn’t us, it was them. It’s a decent day.”

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With that being said, it will be interesting to see how he fares in the Bristol race. Will Hamlin alter the results of Kansas before entering the next stage and finally get his shot at clinching his championship, or will he slip again?