Denny Hamlin makes his demand crystal clear amid JGR’s worrisome decline

NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin recently addressed Joe Gibbs Racing's current state, acknowledging a dip in performance compared to past seasons. While the team has secured three race wins so far, Hamlin emphasized that there is still significant work to be done to regain their dominance.

Denny Hamlin was the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver to lead laps in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami, a trend he noted as a growing concern for the team. Despite JGR securing solid finishes including three consecutive wins from Christopher Bell, Hamlin acknowledged their overall performance has dipped. After the race, the 44-year-old Virginia native shared his candid thoughts on where JGR has been falling short this season.

“I still think we’ve got work to do,” Hamlin said. “I contend that we still don’t have the speed that it takes to lead a ton of laps, which is showing in laps led. We’re not leading laps like we have in the past. All of JGR. So I think we’ve just got to get our cars a little bit faster to really contend week in, week out, right now.” (via NASCAR)

Now in his 20th full-time season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Hamlin has cemented his status as one of NASCAR’s top drivers. The #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver has amassed 74 wins across NASCAR’s top divisions, with 54 coming in the Cup Series.

Hamlin emerged victorious in Stage 2 of the race at Homestead-Miami and eventually finished the race in P5, behind his new JGR teammate Chase Briscoe.

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Denny Hamlin's 23XI driver confronts the harsh reality of his Miami ordeal that stole his playoff chance

23XI racing's #23 driver Bubba Wallace started the sixth round of the regular season at Homestead from P9 and worked his way into the top five by the end of Stage 2. In Stage 3, he overtook former Cup champion Kyle Larson to claim the lead, pacing the field for 56 laps.

However, in the final 33 laps, Wallace took the inside line while battling Alex Bowman for the top spot, ultimately losing the lead to the HMS driver. After the race ended, Denny Hamlin's driver reflected on his mistake that snatched his chances to get an early season victory.

"I thought I got into a rhythm early, but that was a longer run there so thought our capability fell away. I got into the fence there and that allowed him (Alex Bowman) to get beside me and then just capability from then on wasn’t there. Hate that I messed up, but I came over the radio and said ‘I haven’t been in many situations like that to give away a race,'" he said (via Speedway Digest).

Bubba Wallace finished two spots ahead of Denny Hamlin and secured his first podium finish of the season.