Denny Hamlin drops 3-word remark on JGR No. 11 pit crew’s lightning-fast pit stop at Phoenix

Denny Hamlin posted his best finish in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in second place at Phoenix Raceway. One of the contributing factors was the fast pit stop by the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing crew on lap 270.

Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry, pitted with the leaders with 42 laps remaining under caution after Bubba Wallace hit the wall in turn one. His pit crew changed all four tires in 8.67 seconds, 0.38 seconds off the record held by Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 Spire Motorsports team.

In an X post, Denny Hamlin shared his three-word reaction to the pit stop job at Phoenix Raceway.

"With an adjustment," Hamlin wrote.

Here is the onboard video of the lap 270 pit stop via Bozi Tatarevic on X.

With a fast pit stop, Denny Hamlin rejoined the front runners alongside Christopher Bell and Joey Logano. For his final stint at Phoenix Raceway, the 44-year-old driver ran with the option tires, which were faster but had more tire falloff than the primary tires.

Hamlin took the white flag before Bell regained the lead from the bottom. The two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers were racing alongside each other, but his teammate bested him by 0.049 seconds. Kyle Larson followed them in third place.

After the Shriner Children's 500, the 54-time Cup race winner moved up 10 spots to seventh in the standings. The second-place finish was his first top-five after scoring a top-10 result (sixth place) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Hamlin will return to the No. 11 Toyota for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. The race will kick off on Sunday, March 16, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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"It was 100% success": Denny Hamlin on NASCAR adding option tires at Phoenix

In the latest episode of Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, the No. 11 driver shared his thoughts on the option tires at Phoenix Raceway. He believes the option tires were a "100% success" in delivering a good racing product.

Denny Hamlin said about the option tires:

"I certainly think that we've got a winner. Me and Dale Jr. believed for the longest time that Goodyear has the keys to NASCAR Cup Series racing. It's evident that we were right because we've got tire falloff. We finally got them to put some soft tires on the car. The results of the racing that we've seen speak for themselves."

The long-time Joe Gibbs Racing driver added:

"It was a 100% success. I couldn't think of a short track, or a mile or less track that these tires couldn't go and race at."

Option tires provide more speed but wear faster, while the primary tires offer more durability but are relatively slower. The tire option concept was introduced in the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro last year before the Richmond race debuted it in a points-paying contest.

According to NASCAR, the officials could consider using the option tire as the primary and only tire for the championship race at Phoenix Raceway. The decision depends on their assessment of the recently concluded spring race.