Denny Hamlin’s Crew Chief Dissects “Hail Mary” Move Amidst Martinsville Heartbreak

Just like their stunt at Richmond, Denny Hamlin and his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, tried to whip up some magic at Martinsville, too. This time around, they gambled with a new trick—ducking into the pits during the last three laps, hoping to trick other drivers into doing the same. But, no dice. Instead of possibly finishing fourth place, Hamlin wound up in eleventh. Reflecting on the move, a bummed-out Chris Gabehart spilled the beans in the post-race chat. He shared how he and Hamlin, caught up in the heat of the moment, went for a play that just didn’t pan out.

Chris Gabehart thinks tires “aren’t worth anything at Martinsville”

Just last week, Denny Hamlin’s pit crew was on fire, helping him clinch a win at Richmond against his teammate Martin Truex Jr. But you can’t hit the jackpot every weekend. This time, a slower pit stop had Hamlin rejoining the race in 10th place. Gabehart addressed the whole situation in his post-race talk, saying, “The pit crew, you know, they had a little bit of a slower stop than the Hendrick guys. They nailed it. And, you know, we had to come one lap later because that’s the leader.”

Then, when a reporter asked, “Was that a Hail Mary, there at the end?” Gabehart confirmed it with a “Yeah.” He laid out their thinking—faced with restarting in fourth, he told Hamlin they’d roll the dice if none of the leaders pitted, a last-ditch effort in pursuit of a positive outcome, aiming to stir things up since landing anywhere from fourth to fifth wasn’t going to cut it when they were already sitting pretty with two wins. 

He admitted they might’ve been riding more on emotion, trying to shake things up, especially since “everybody knows tires aren’t worth anything at Martinsville now; we’re split-stinting green flag runs at Martinsville and that’s just asinine, truthfully.” He didn’t hold back on critiquing NASCAR for handing out cars that might as well be clones, with no room for any real speed or power plays.

He pointed out that Cup drivers are top-notch, handling cars with tire-independent rear suspension that clings to the track. So, driving has become a piece of cake, especially because every car on the track is a carbon copy, and trying to find an edge feels like a wild goose chase considering everyone’s got the same toolkit and moves.

Even Denny Hamlin admitted he was aiming to mix it up at the end, trying to catch the other drivers off guard.

Denny Hamlin opened up about his last-minute pit stop decision

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Chewing over his choice to pit with just three laps left, Hamlin shared post-race that they were sort of trying and hoping to get a bunch of others to follow suit. But with tires barely wearing down at Martinsville, it was a long shot.

He said, “We were just trying to make a call there to drag some others down with us, but you know the tire wear not being much of anything; it was probably a stretch I think. We weren’t going to win, so the strategy was to pit and try to drag seven or eight cars, but nobody else pitted.” While the plan could’ve been worked out wonders if successful, that was hardly the case.

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If Hamlin had stayed out, he might’ve finished fourth place or even better, boosting his spot in the standings. But the season’s still young, with 20 more shots at turning a wild final lap into a win. Drop your guesses in the comments about where Hamlin’s next victory lap could be.