Denny Hamlin’s crew chief castigates Toyota’s “f**king terrible” car after multiple setbacks at Watkins Glen 

Denny Hamlin's crew chief Chris Gabehart praised the driver for his "championship effort" and reprimanded the #11 Toyota Camry as "f**king terrible," after encountering multiple blows at Watkins Glen. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver got wrecked twice, which diminished his car's capability to fight for the win.

Hamlin had a disappointing showing at Atlanta, where he finished 24th. He entered the Go Bowling! at the Glen being above the playoff elimination line. However, the second playoff battle took a disappointing turn since the practice began, and has pushed the JGR driver below the cutline, in 13th place.

Denny Hamlin got spun during practice at Turn 1 and placed his #11 Toyota for a 22nd-place start at Watkins Glen. But as the playoff race kicked off, he got collected in the opening lap chaos initiated by Corey LaJoie's run-in into Kyle Busch's left rear.

The 54-time Cup Series race champion quickly steered to the pits under caution and returned to the asphalt after the repairs. But that didn't help as he pitted again on Lap 23 for more repair work.

On Lap 47, another series of unfortunate events transpired, and Denny Hamlin crashed into the outside wall. It stemmed from the three-wide battle between him, Kyle Larson, and Brad Keselowski in the middle. The room was insufficient, but Keselowski pinned his #6 Ford into the gap, sending the JGR driver into the wall. Ten laps later, Hamlin pitted for a failed left rear compound.

All the factors heavily damaged the Toyota, and it wasn't in a condition to battle for the win. Thus, during the cooldown lap, Gabehart radioed in and slammed the "piece of sh*t" #11 Toyota.

He said:

"Great effort, everybody. I don't care if we make it or not. That is a championship effort to figure out how to run 23rd with that piece of sh*t. I hope you guys get to go through it because you all deserve it and I cannot wait to get to my favorite race track (Bristol). Great job, really proud of you, man, this thing was f**king terrible. Somehow made to work," Gabehart said.

Denny Hamlin will enter the elimination race at the Bristol Motor Speedway with a six-point deficit below the cutline.

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Denny Hamlin's crew chief lambasts rivals for making a "mess" during the final stage cautions

With a 34th and 29th place finish in both stages, Denny Hamlin looked to improve his dented run during the final stage at Atlanta. However, he suffered another setback during the final lap when Chase Elliott rammed Ross Chastain's #1 Chevy into the wall, causing a stack-up.

Several drivers got caught in the wreck, including Hamlin. The three-time Daytona 500 winner was running 21st when the collision transpired and dropped multiple track positions for a 24th-place finish.

A similar portrayal was seen at Watkins Glen. On Lap 84 restart, Brad Keselowski and William Bryon wrecked, followed by Martin Truex Jr.'s crash on lap 88. As a result, the 90-lap run was extended by two laps to declare the winner.

Chris Gabehart highlighted that the current approach of drivers has shifted to bumper cars, nudging drivers out of the way, to make space for oneself. He slammed such a method, saying, "That's not racing."

"I guess quantitatively I've never raced with this much stakes on the line as a driver. And that's great. It makes for great sport. And you know, so it means everybody's got push really hard. There's a lot of line I get it, but. It sure seems like, the optics are starting to turn into bumper cars and that's not racing. So, I don't know what you do about it, but golly, it looks like a mess," Gabehart said (via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hamlin has aced the previous two races held at the Bristol Motor Speedway.