WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Denny Hamlin is delighted that the Round of 16 closes with Bristol Motor Speedway because the first two weeks of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs have been calamity for the No. 11 team.
That frustration continued Sunday at Watkins Glen International, where the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota finished 23rd, collecting just 15 points in the second race of the postseason and leaving the 2.45-mile road course beneath the provisional elimination line.
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By overdriving Turn 1 during qualifying, Hamlin was credited with a 22nd-place starting position. That threw the No. 11 team behind the eight ball from the get-go, needing to score stage points. Hamlin didn‘t even make it half a lap into the 90-lap race before he had sizable damage. Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch spun around in the Bus Stop, and when Busch came across the race track, Hamlin piled in.
“It sucks because I knew the damage was bad,” Hamlin said of his mindset after the opening lap. “I was really looking forward to this race, believe it or not, because we made some really good adjustments overnight to help with where I felt like we were going to be a little bit off. I wanted to just race and see what my car had. Just never had a chance.”
In the same wreck that retired Ryan Blaney from the race, Chris Gabehart, crew chief of the No. 11 team, had a synchronized plan in place. In an extended caution, the team had seven minutes to work on the car on pit road, make minimum speed and get off the damaged vehicle policy clock. That goal was accomplished.
“You‘re a whisker from finishing dead last, not getting off of DVP,” Gabehart told NASCAR.com. “Once my team, who I‘m so proud of, Brandon Griffith my car chief, all the mechanics, the pit crew — it takes everyone being coordinated to work your way out of a hole like that in just seven minutes. I can‘t say enough how proud I am for even giving us a shot. The minute we left that scenario, the new goal was to try to figure out a way to run about 25th or 26th because realistically, I thought it was the best we could do with the damage we had and at least give ourselves a shot to go to Bristol.”
Hamlin lost a lap but was the free-pass recipient at the end of the opening stage. With a variety of strategies playing out, he even scored a stage point in Stage 2.
MORE: Truex wins Stage 1 | Suárez stuck in gravel at Stage 2 end
In a three-wide battle with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson through the esses, Hamlin‘s race derailed for a second time on Lap 46. The No. 11 car backed into the outside wall and ricocheted around to receive nose damage.
“We were three-wide and [Keselowski], I thought, could have let off there because we were so far ahead,” Hamlin added. “He kept it three-wide and I wrecked.”
Hamlin received another free pass in the waning laps and avoided chaos in a rash of late cautions. He took the checkered flag in 23rd, ahead of five other playoff drivers.
“Great effort to keep us in it,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, the car is just destroyed. To finish 23rd, I guess is a positive. We were in a worse place that mostly all day and luckily, we had some attrition at the end that helped us out.”
With Bristol on the horizon, the No. 11 team is confident. Hamlin has won the last two races at the ‘World‘s Fastest Half-Mile,’ combining to lead 305 of 1,000 laps contested in those events. He enters the race six points below the elimination line, which is currently held by both Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe in a tie six points above the line.
“I feel like we can go there and win,” Hamlin stated. “… We feel like we control our destiny there.
Gabehart is just as confident.
“Six out ain‘t going to be enough to hold the 11 back at Bristol,” he said. “The ‘but’ is, we‘ve got to have the asteroids to quit falling on top of the 11 car. Our performance is matched by very, very few. We just aren‘t on the lucky side of things right now.
“This week, we made our luck by qualifying poorly. No one is perfect and this team showed that it‘s championship caliber today. I can promise you nobody is going to beat you on performance at Bristol. Six ain‘t enough. Now, does it go our way? We‘ll see, but six isn‘t enough to beat us on performance.”
The Round of 16 finale is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and NBC Sports App.
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