The first race of the 2023 NASCAR playoffs flew past us over the weekend in some fashion. With Kyle Larson clinching the win, Darlington Raceway broke the hearts of one too many drivers. The most prominent of them was Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin. Leading as many as 177 laps of the 367-lap race, Hamlin looked set for the win until an unlikely tragedy stuck. With 94 laps left to finish the rally, Denny was forced to make a green flag pitstop due to a loose wheel on his car. The stop sunk his positions and ultimately cost him the race.

Coming back from the disappointing weekend, the driver got behind the mic on his podcast ‘Detrimental Actions with Denny Hamlin’ and detailed the problem that he faced. Joining him in the studio was the JGR owner Joe Gibbs.

Denny Hamlin uses the Bubba Wallace example to prove he was right

Having 50 Cup Series wins under his belt, the one achievement that has eluded Denny over the last 17 years is a NASCAR championship. Entering the playoffs once again this year, he was prepared and confident to go in and grab his first title. But fate wouldn’t have it. Despite his earlier issues with the pit crew, he’d credited them going into Darlington and said,“I think the pit crew is better, they’re coming into its own. All the pieces of the puzzle are there.” Little would he have expected that he’d run into issues with them again.

Speaking on the podcast, Denny explained how other drivers including Bubba Wallace had pit on occasions even when their wheels have been tight. He said, ” This has happened with Bubba Wallace a few times. He has pit when the wheels been tight. Like confirmed. They’d see the video, It’s tight […] You gotta take into account that ‘this might just be low air’, right? But I had run green flag pitstops before at Darlington and I had earlier that night and I knew right away the feel wasn’t the same. It wasn’t low air. This was a mechanical problem.”

Going on to note the difference between how pit crews react, he talked about the crews either confirm that the wheel is absolutely tight or there is a question. Talking of his own experience, he said, “The immediate reaction the pit crew does was, ‘Yeah everything is fine’. Then they download the high res video or whatever and it comes down to ten minutes after and its like, ‘It could have been moving a little bit’. So that kind of confirms that certainly what I felt was real.”

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The Bubba Wallace connect and the verdict of Denny Hamlin’s crew chief

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Bubba Wallace races for 23XI Racing, a team Denny Hamlin co-owns. Bubba’s problems with loose wheels last year are no secret. Members of his crew even faced a 4 match suspension after the driver was found racing with a loose at the ‘Circuit of the Americans’. The same problem followed the driver to Kansas and Nashville as well. Being someone who has experienced Denny Hamlin’s Sunday predicament on a lot of occasions before, it makes sense that his name would fray into the topic. But luckily for him, at Darlington this weekend, it was just team owner who faced the problem. Bubba Wallace finished his first playoff race at P7.

The green flag pitstop ended up sinking Denny Hamlin’s dominant display in the first two stages and he ended up finishing at P25. Found having a long chat with the crew chief Chris Gabehart at the end of the race, he would have made his disappointment very clear. The chief himself acknowledged the decision to go for the pitstop regardless of whether his crew’s verdict. As reported on nascar.com, he’d said, “I mean, my guy’s won 50 of these. He’s been doing it for nearly 20 years. He knows what he feels. So live on TV, it probably looked uncertain, but I’m certain. Denny knows.”

While it was positive of the crew chief to trust his driver and not take risks, a loose wheel on a race at this stage is something that every team and driver would want to avoid at all costs. Going into Kansas next weekend, Denny Hamlin will have a climb up hill to reclaim that advantage that he lost at Darlington.

Read More: Despite Dropping the Ball at Darlington, Unfazed Denny Hamlin Declares – “Still a Winner”