“The race left Devon Youker, the rear tire changer for Denny Hamlin’s #11 Camry XSE, feeling understandably dejected. “I’m going to compete next season.” That’s what Denny Hamlin had told Bob Pockrass after making an ‘unlucky’ exit from the Round of 4 cutoff race at Martinsville last year. And to his credit, Hamlin is right in the thick of it, sitting 5th in the playoff standings and heading into Talladega this week. But all that hard work could come crashing down if the #11 team doesn’t rebound quickly, especially after that rough day in Kansas.

Now, let’s be fair—crew chief Chris Gabehart and his boys don’t deserve to be thrown under the bus just like that. Three wins and seven top-5 finishes are nothing to scoff at. Neither can one bad day define a team that’s pushed Denny Hamlin so deep into the playoffs.”But hey, that’s competing at the world’s top level.” And you best believe the Joe Gibbs #11 crew is well aware of that fact with just two races left to make the cutoff.

Loose lug nuts and tight deadlines for Denny Hamlin

The Round of 16 closure was not too kind to Denny Hamlin. After finishing outside the top 20 at Atlanta and Watkins Glen, a P4 at the cutoff race in Bristol saved him some grace. An eighth-place finish the following weekend at Kansas wasn’t all that bad if you look at it that way. But his crew chief would tell you he deserved to win that race. Chris Gabehart told Cameron Richardson of NASCAR.com in a post-race interview, “The car was certainly capable of winning and so is Denny. But it’s a team sport. It takes it all. And we just didn’t have it all today.”

Gabehart’s candidness reflects his character, but it was clear the #11 team struggled last Sunday. According to Racing Insights, Hamlin lost 60 positions in total during seven pit stops, averaging a loss of 8.57 positions per stop. Despite Hamlin’s early warnings about track position, a critical error before Stage 2 forced him to pit again for a loose rear wheel, leaving rear tire changer Devon Youker visibly dejected post-race.

But his pit boss, ever the veteran, had Youker’s back, regardless. “I know that hurts…” – Gabehart reassured, in a video shared by Joe Gibbs Racing on YouTube. He said, “But hey, that’s competing at the world’s top level. And it ain’t f—–n’ easy. You’re going to have to dust yourself off. We have to get ready to go again…”

After all, Denny Hamlin had a real chance to book his Round of 8 berth in Kansas. He’s the all-time track record holder for wins at the racetrack. Three wins have come with Gabehart himself. Hence, to see his personnel falter with their pit stops must have felt quite uncharacteristic.

Gabehart’s leadership was clear as he prepared to position Denny Hamlin for success at Talladega. With two top-5 finishes in the last two fall races, Hamlin has the stats on his side. However, predicting a Talladega outcome this early is risky. That said, Hamlin seems to have moved past his frustration after a tough day in Kansas.

Concerns raised over Next-Gen at Talladega

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The #11 team hasn’t been able to win in Talladega since the inception of this Next-Gen car. For that matter, Denny Hamlin hasn’t won a superspeedway race since he won the fall race at Talladega in 2020. And to top it off, at the GEICO 500 earlier in May, Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing machine wrecked out with just 40 laps to go. That leads him to believe his team must be “smart” and “aggressive” in their advances this time around. In a press release by JGR, he noted, “It’s going to be an execution race trying to put yourself in the right position around the pit stops, when you pit, and how fast you can get formed back up in your group.”

“Then, obviously you will have to miss the wrecks. That has been our biggest issue at these tracks this year is just getting caught in other people’s mistakes,” lamented Hamlin. But he hoped to garner a decent number of stage points before he gets “aggressive later in the race.” As for that, Hamlin trails only Kyle Larson in stage points (26), as the rivals get ready for another ‘Dega duel this Sunday.

Regardless, Denny Hamlin is not going to Talladega without his concerns. Days ago, NASCAR announced a series of aerodynamic modifications that’ll be visible on the Next-Gen car’s superspeedway package this weekend. According to the sport’s official website, these changes aim to prevent cars from lifting off the race track like they did during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona a month ago. The new design features a 2-inch polycarbonate fin on the right-side roof rail, which extends over the windshield. According to Bozi Tatarevic, “This fin would act kind of like a spoiler when the car is sideways and push it down to stop flips.” Besides that, there will also be a wider rocker panel skirt and a fabric chute beneath the right-side roof flap on this new ‘superspeedway’ car.

However, Denny Hamlin believes the heightened roof-rail mod might cause visibility issues for drivers this Sunday. On Actions Detrimental, this past week, he raged, “For one, it looks like a–. And second, it hurts visibility… The problem is, is that we take tear-offs off of our front windshield. And superspeedways are one of the worst tracks for debris on the front windshield. So, we need to get those tear-offs off. Hamlin explained, “This block is probably 15% of the windshield, and especially the right front corner when we’re side drafting.”

“We are constantly looking out at the right front corner of the windshield to gauge how close we are to each other and others. And there’s just not a really good solution.” Now, could the new roof rail extension hinder Denny Hamlin’s pursuit of victory at Talladega?

Let’s hope not. After all, his winless streak has now extended to 18 weeks with the dust settling in Kansas. A good outing is not an ask; it’s a need. With that said, do you think Denny Hamlin will make it to the next round of the playoffs?