“Had a Great Shot” – Denny Hamlin Laments for Joe Gibbs’ Grandson as Rival Rick Hendrick Steals the Spotlight

Denny Hamlin’s predictions for Texas Motor Speedway were as reliable as Goodyear’s worn-out tires. He anticipated a Hendrick Motorsports car to be his foremost match. But not the one that gave Rick Hendrick his 300th win. The #11 driver foreshadowed a Joe Gibbs showdown as well. But not against his own teammate.

Hamlin could only watch the heavy gates of victory thudding close as Joe Gibbs‘s grandson sealed his fate even before the end of the first stage. This was a particularly hard pill to swallow for the championship contender whose conviction in his racecar was unshakeable prior to the race.

Joe Gibbs’ own legacy snatched his star driver’s Texas win away

Denny Hamlin entered the grounds of the 1.5-mile racetrack energized with the incomparable rush of the Bristol win. Despite qualifying 10th, NASCAR analysts touted Hamlin with the most favorable outcome in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. However, when he came out of the pit road on Lap 77 in Stage 1, he ran into an inaccurately positioned Ty Gibbs. The resulting collision damaged the #11 car and ended the #54 car’s journey in the fourth playoff race of the season.

Despite Ty Gibbs’ fault, Hamlin bemoaned the impact of the incident on his young teammate. Joe Gibbs’ grandson started Top 5 on the Texas track and showed immense potential until he crashed out of the race early. In Hamlin’s podcast, Actions Detrimental, the #11 driver deeply regretted the missed opportunity for the entire Joe Gibbs Racing team. Hamlin reflected, “The race weekend, it was another one where I thought, ‘We had a great shot to win’.

My crew chief felt really good about our car overnight. I really did for most of the day until we got that damage on pit road. I didn’t know. Did I swing out too wide? What happened? And then I looked at the replay and I was like, ‘Oh man Ty!’ He’s got to get up the racetrack a little bit so he didn’t leave room for anyone to get out of their pit stall. But I talked to Ty afterward and he’s like, ‘Man, I feel so bad that you got damage, it hurt your car’. And I’m like **** dude, I felt bad.”

“I left pit road and his tire was basically hanging out of the car and I was like, ‘His race is over’. Man that sucked for both of us but worse for him, much worse for him, hate it for him.”

In the meantime, Stage 2 winner Kyle Larson spun out of the race, paving the way for his teammate to relish an incredible 6th win of the year. Rick Hendrick’s #24 driver William Byron, took advantage of a late-race restart and took his Chevrolet past the finish line. Even after the crash, Denny Hamlin strove to position himself in the Top 3 by the end of the second stage. But the effect of colliding with another Chevrolet eventually hampered the #11’s momentum and Hamlin had to settle for a Top 5 finish.

Hamlin continued, “Our car was so fast, I think it had a little bit extra left in it, probably. Balance-wise, with that big hole in the right side, it just was tighter. It was tighter than it was before. And the speed itself, the top end speed did not, it did not have the speed certainly that it did before. And I looked at it, the underbody was hanging down. So it probably was not making the downforce that it did before. But that tells you how fast the car was likely if you center punch a big hole in it and it’s still Top 3.”

Watch This Story: Denny Hamlin Points a Finger at NASCAR’s Intricate System for Teammate’s Dramatic Downfall

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race winner took this opportunity to shed light on the intricacies of their mishap.

Denny Hamlin is empathetic of rookie racer in spite of pit lane damage

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The inheritor of Gibbs’ legacy took part in his first Cup Series as a full-time racer. He wasn’t experienced enough for a win, but two Top 5 and eight Top 10 finishes landed him extremely close to the playoff cut-off. Unfortunately, his untimely DNF at the Daytona International Speedway confirmed Bubba Wallace’s 16th playoff spot and Ty Gibbs would have to console himself with the Rookie of the Year award. Nevertheless, the #54 driver persevered and achieved another Top 5 finish in the previous race in Bristol. A rash attempt to exceed his last performance completely derailed his race.

Denny Hamlin understood the enthusiasm of a beginner racer all too well. Sympathetic of his teammate’s plight, Hamlin observed, “That’s the growing pains of being a rookie in the cup series. These are the weekends where you are like, ‘Shoot! If I could go back and redo these..’. But that team, they are qualifying strong, they are racing stronger each and every week. So hate that for Ty and his team.”

In fact, the #11 driver believed Ty Gibbs misunderstood his team’s instructions. Hamlin explained, “I think he probably got told one lane…when my team tells me one lane, that basically means when I come out of the pit stall, I need to be running the third lane, the bottom lane, essentially where Ty was running, is where I need to be. I need to leave… two on the outside, one on the inside…His team told him evidently one lane but…he took it obviously wrong. He should have been up one more lane to be up next to the car that he was on the outside of, to allow the cars to come out of the pit lane.

Joe Gibbs’ seasoned driver could afford this magnanimity, for his consistent performances have ensured a secure playoff spot so far. With each passing race, Denny Hamlin’s fans await his championship trophy. Could he advance to the next round with a Talladega victory this weekend?

Read More: Denny Hamlin Warns Entire Grid Against Incoming Chaos Ahead of Playoffs’ “Pivotal” Texas Outing