Denny Hamlin pinpoints the “human” factor amid Shane van Gisbergen’s Watkins Glen defeat despite being a road course favorite “100 out of 100 times”

Denny Hamlin, a two-decade veteran driver from the Joe Gibbs Racing team, was a part of the action-packed weekend at the Go Bowling! At Watkins Glen and examined the whole race up close. Chris Buescher won the race in a turn of events in the last lap, robbing Shane van Gisbergen of his maiden victory.

Recently, Hamlin went on the Dirty Mo Media podcast and shed light on the fact that SVG is the best driver on road course tracks, but it is basic human nature to make mistakes.

"Put someone in the lead on a road course last lap; you're going to pick SVG 100 out of 100 times, but you're human; it's high stakes, and you know people make mistakes," explained Hamlin.

At the second playoff race, Buescher didn't get a good start from the qualifying lap and started the race in 24th place in his #17 Ford. But he eventually caught up with the top drivers by the final stage of the race. In the 91st lap, SVG left a room at turn 1. In the final lap, Buescher took his chance and took the lead from SVG to secure his first victory of this season.

Turn 1 was not the only mistake the New Zealander made. During turn 6, he was hit by the former's right rear end, sending him wide. Even at turn 7, he lost some balance, and while controlling his #16 Chevy, he lost some pace helping Buescher's case.

Denny Hamlin's performance at Watkins Glen

Denny Hamlin didn't have a smooth run at the Go Bowling! at the Glen. He began the race in 22nd position with a best time of 72.759 seconds, and even stage 1 of the race was not in favor of Denny Hamlin. In the 47th lap, he got involved in an accident with Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski.

The accident spun out Hamlin, making him hit the outside barriers. That was not all for Hamlin; he even missed a lap while working on his repairs. In the 57th lap, the #11 Toyota driver had to go for another pit stop after a failing left rear tire. Later, in a podcast with Dirty Mo Media, Jeff Gluck said:

"Either way, even more damage, just totally bad. And you're just like, talk about an implosion, an absolute implosion, for this team that has shown so much speed. Yes, they haven't won since April, we still thought they were going to be a championship contender."

Driver #11 is now on the bubble in the playoff standings and short six points to qualify. However, the next race at Bristol might be a game-changer for Denny Hamlin. He has four wins at the Bristol Motor Speedway, and even the last two races at the track were won by him.