“Ain’t Gonna Make It” – Denny Hamlin Reveals Horrid Reality Looming Over Joe Gibbs as Concerns With Driver Rises

At the onset of the 2023 season, racing team owner Joe Gibbs had fielded four fast Toyotas on the grid. After fighting through many battles through the course of the year, three of them made it into the round of 16. As the season simmers waiting for the final race of the round of 12 at Charlotte, the same three cars lie in wait to gain entry into the round of 8. The weakest showing of those three Toyotas has been from that of the 2017 Cup Series champion, Martin Truex Jr. Despite heading the leaderboard heading into the playoffs, the driver’s luck has since fallen off.

Following his poor performances in all the postseason tracks, another nail hit his coffin with his P18 finish at Talladega. In what can be hoped to be a wake-up call for him heading to Charlotte, teammate Denny Hamlin has issued a rather harsh statement.

Joe Gibbs’ star driver Denny Hamlin provides a look at reality for Truex Jr.

After getting into the playoffs, Truex Jr. has not finished inside the top 15 even once. With mediocre performances and burst tires messing with his run to Phoenix, he stands at a very bad corner to find his way forward. The many voices that backed him as a favorite for the championship have now died down and the No. 11 driver of Joe Gibbs Racing has given his thoughts about the reality of the situation that Truex Jr. is in. On his podcast, “Actions Detrimental”, Hamlin was asked about his teammate’s chances should his average performance continue in the Roval. Co-host Jared Allen’s question exactly went, “Here’s what I wanna know. Truex has not run well throughout these playoffs. If he was to have another midpack finish, 15, 16, 17th. Plus 17, with no stage points, would he be out of the cup run?”

Putting quite some thought into his analysis, Hamlin provided his tough verdict. He replied, “Great question and… plus 17, No. Ain’t gonna make it. Can’t run 15th all… the whole race, no. These guys, Bell through Keselowski. Essentially the 4th through 8th in points standings, No. You cannot run 15th all day.” On the standings range that Hamlin pointed out are 5 drivers including his teammates Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. Though there aren’t a lot of points to separate the gap between the two, Hamlin’s call mandates that they cannot afford to sustain further with mediocrity.

Making things worse for Joe Gibbs is the fact that he could potentially see more than just one of his drivers fall out of the fray to enter the round of 8 at Charlotte this weekend.

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Joe Gibbs could face his worst nightmare of the 2023 season at the Roval

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2023 has been as pressure-filled for Joe Gibbs as it has been for many of the drivers. Overcoming his contract negotiations with Denny Hamlin, he must have figured that the worst of his troubles were over. But he now faces a surprise that he was unprepared for with the string of disappointments that Truex Jr. has thrown his way. In comparison to the No. 19 driver, Bell has performed better in the playoffs and could possibly edge him out at the Charlotte Roval. Notably, Bell won the round of 12 elimination races, last season.

A fact of solace is that the former champion has 3 top-10 finishes on road courses this season. So, in all possibility, he could bring back his A-game back over the weekend. Talking to the media about the upcoming race, he said, “The points situation is the same as every other race. It’s really really hard to be at the front all the time and this weekend we just need a solid day to hopefully get us through with some good tracks for us coming up.” There does exist the scenario that both Truex Jr. and Bell turn up at their worst on the day and leave Gibbs stranded with Hamlin as the only resort in the round of 8. But if the current momentum of both the drivers is to matter, Hamlin’s words could sting Truex Jr. more. Either way, Joe Gibbs will be praying that all three of his Toyotas manage to break into the mold. Let us know in the comments what you think of the chances of that happening!

Read More: “It Would Be Comical”: NASCAR Insider Jokes About Joe Gibbs’s Suffering Driver’s Situation as Playoff Woes Continue