Denny Hamlin Praises Tony Stewart’s Outcasted Driver as He Condemns Austin Hill’s Vain Effort at a Lost Race in Kansas

It’s no secret that 2024 is slowly shaping up to be the most promising season for Denny Hamlin’s elusive Cup championship. Only recently, the 23XI Racing owner revealed how ‘this is the year’ he will finally bring home the Bill France Cup. And going off the success rate of his predictions lately, it’s safe to say that the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver may be truly onto something. But just when we thought Hamlin also predicted a win at Kansas Speedway, the tables were turned on him by RCR’s Xfinity star, Austin Hill.

As the #33 Camaro ZL1 belonging to Hill entered the pit lane at the end of the second stage, Hamlin got blocked and had to check up, resulting in a loss of ten grid positions. This naturally left the 23XI co-owner fuming, as he highlighted Ryan Preece’s awareness in the second stage to condemn the #33 team’s pit-stop actions.

Despite his SHR future hanging in the balance, Ryan Preece finds an ally in Denny Hamlin

The current situation at Stewart-Haas Racing is anything but stable. From talks of a merger with Front Row Motorsports to rumors of a charter sale, Tony Stewart’s beloved Cup Series team with Gene Haas faces a similar dilemma to the former’s F1 team as well. This has not just put organizational pressure on employees at SHR but has also impacted the drivers, most notably Ryan Preece.

The #41 SHR driver was recently left in the dark regarding a SHR study group including Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, and Noah Gragson. Although Gragson had stated that anyone could join in, Ryan Preece’s unawareness sent shockwaves through the X community, striking #41 fans heavily. That being said, Ryan Preece may find his saving grace to be Denny Hamlin, who highlighted the driver’s awareness on track.

After winning the first stage and putting himself in a prime spot for the win at the AdventHealth 400, Denny Hamlin pitted for fresh rubber. But this is when all hell broke loose for the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing crew, as the team had to yield to Austin Hill entering the pit lane. Although it isn’t unusual for a few pit-lane skirmishes to take place, what ticked off Hamlin was how little Austin Hill had to lose compared to the race leader.

The 23XI Racing co-owner shared his frustrations on the Actions Detrimental podcast; “He (Hill) should stop. If the roles were reversed, what would you expect? I mean, it’s like, it’s like yielding on the highway. You’re yielding to the leader of the race, someone who is racing for the win. And if you’re the last car on the lead lap, it’s not your day thus far.” According to Hamlin, Hill’s 35th place at the time warranted the RCR driver to yield to Hamlin, who was clearly on a race-winning strategy.

But that’s not what went down. Hill ended up pitting before Hamlin, causing the #11 JGR driver to check up and lose precious time. This is when Hamlin highlighted Ryan Preece’s ‘logical’ approach to the pit lane during Stage 2 when faced with a similar situation. Around lap 170, Hamlin was pitting for fresher rubber, while Ryan Preece was ahead of the #11 car in the pits. Instead of entering his pit lane and causing Hamlin to check up, the #41 SHR driver chose to let Hamlin by instead.

The #11 JGR driver stated, “When I got out of my pit stall, we’re now side-by-side, or I’m kind of at his (Preece) door. He needs to get into his stall. But he knew that I was upfront, so he hit his brakes, got behind me, and then turned into his stall because he was one of the last cars on the lap. He was yielding to the upfront cars whoever they are. It’s the same thing I did for Joey at Talladega. Same thing.” 

Compared to Austin Hill’s miscommunication with his spotters and crew chief regarding the end of the first stage, Ryan Preece had acted out on his instincts, prioritizing the race leader’s positions, something common across all motorsports. Speaking of which, Hamlin revealed how Preece’s actions reminded him of a situation with Joey Logano at Talladega.

‘It wasn’t very courteous for sure’ – Hamlin pulls no punches against Austin Hill and the #33 RCR garage

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Apart from highlighting Ryan Preece’s race-awareness to condemn Hill’s actions, the #11 JGR driver also revealed what he would do, and had done in such a situation. Taking fans back to the GEICO 500, Hamlin shared how he had checked up for the competent Joey Logano owing to his own shortcomings. Running well outside the top 20, Hamlin chose to concede to Logano on pit-road, a courtesy he felt should have been handed out by Austin Hill and RCR as well.

Hamlin stated, “This is precisely why I checked up for Logano at Talladega. We were both pitted in the last two stalls at pit road. I was running last at Talladega because I was saving and whatnot and I had stuff going on. So Joey was upfront leading the race or towards the front, and the timing was gonna work out to where. I don’t wanna box him in, or get my guys run over. So I stopped. I let him finish his stop, let him pull out. Because I’m last, I have nothing to gain. And this was the same situation with Austin Hill, where he was last.” 

With Austin Hill being the last car on the lead lap at Kansas, Hamlin felt that the #33 had nothing to gain from the blocking, whereas the #11 had everything to lose. Instead, Hamlin was boxed in and lost out on ten spots. This led Hamlin to sum up his frustrations; “I’m like, it wasn’t very courteous for sure. But it’s like, I don’t know why I thought it would be common sense for driver, spotter, and crew chief to if someone is racing for the lead and you are racing for nothing, you are last, you are the last car, let the guy leave if it is going to be close.” 

After taking a look at Denny Hamlin’s boiling frustrations with Austin Hill and how Ryan Preece actually played all the cards right, do you think the SHR driver is perhaps being sidelined too quickly by Tony Stewart and Co.?