Amidst 23XI Racing Pit Crew Criticism, Denny Hamlin Let Joe Gibbs Racing Down in Las Vegas

It’s tough to don two hats at the same time, and for the time being, Denny Hamlin is experiencing that particular feeling. On one hand, he wants to stay focused on his racing at JGR, but he has commitments to his team, 23X1 Racing. The race was a one-man show, as Kyle Larson managed to escape a late scare from Tyler Reddick. With a tough loss as a team co-owner, Hamlin was clear in expressing his frustration and called out the 23X1 pit crew, suggesting Reddick could have won had they been on top of their game.

Speaking on his show “Actions Detrimental,” he did not hold back on his criticism of the pit crew. He even suggested that it was Reddick’s pit troubles that helped Larson pull off a commanding performance on the day. Interestingly, speaking on the lines of pit crew stops, it was the JGR racing team that aced the best time. Particularly, Hamlin’s No. 11 car, despite ticking all the boxes on the pit road, could not deliver the goods on the racetrack.

Denny Hamlin is unable to capitalize on his pit crew’s splendid performance

Pit stops play a vital role in the driver gaining or dropping position in a restart. Therefore, a good pit crew allows the driver to leapfrog any potential rival who gave them a hard time during the race. Going by Hamlin’s theory of Reddick’s win being hampered by the faulty pit stops, it should have been him leading the charge for Toyota as his pit crew was on their A-game.

According to a report by Racing America, it was Joe Gibbs Racing that had the best individual pit stops. The No. 11 crew managed to change the four tires in just 8.88 seconds, and the No. 20 crew clocked just a hundredth below at 8.89 seconds. Hamlin did have a brief battle with Larson during stage 2, but that was about it, he was unable to mount any significant pressure on the HMS driver.

Moreover, the No. 11 pit crew even aced the median pit stop time of 9.44 seconds. They were only out-timed by Penske (9.39) and Hendrick Motorsports (9.39). Given that Tyler Reddick was driving the same Toyota Camry XSE that Hamlin had, it makes you wonder, why he was not in contention to compete for the win against Larson. His team 23X1 might have lost a race by the finest margins, but to single out the pit crew as the limiting factor is not a good judgment on his part.

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Call it excuses or bad luck, the veteran JGR driver went on to shed light on his troubles with his car in Vegas, which restricted his efforts to compete for a win.

Denny Hamlin is unable to deliver the win in Vegas despite a promising track position

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Hamlin managed to grab crucial stage points at the Las Vegas track and finished eighth behind his teammate Martin Truex Jr. While he might look at these results as progress from his last two races, he surely could have been in contention to win the race given his track position. He did have a few battles with the winners, Kyle Larson and Reddick, but for some reason, he could not trickle his way around the two drivers.

Speaking on his show, Action Detrimental, he shared the reasons for his shortcomings during the Vegas race. “I thought we had a very good car. I thought we were running competitive laps times and were catching the group in front of us. And then, you know, the caution comes out late. You got 20-something laps to go, and you’ve got a shootout there. And it just required a little bit different things out of my car than what I had.”

Given that Toyota is now starting to compete after the early hurdles in the season, Hamlin is expected to get his act together and deliver his first win of the season.