"Every time I came down pit road I was terrified" -Denny Hamlin on past pit road woes, details #11 crew's progression ahead of hometown NASCAR victory

NASCAR's most recent winner in the highest echelon of the sport, the Cup Series saw Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin take the checkered flag in P1 ahead of his home crowd in Virginia. The 2024 Toyota Owners 400 saw the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver jump onto the scene after 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace spun Kyle Larson around, triggering an overtime restart during the final few laps of the event.

Despite JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. being destined for a victory after pretty much controlling the whole race, the final overtime restart saw Hamlin take advantage of the restart zone and blitz the field to win the 400-lap-long event.

Despite there being question marks on Denny Hamlin's final restart and whether he jumped the restart zone or not, it was the #11 pit crew that put Hamlin in front of the pack as cars pitted during yellow flag pit stops for the #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver, Kyle Larson.

Hamlin elaborated on how his crew has recently managed to gel together after having a spell of slow stops on pit road. He told racingamerica.com:

"I feel like I just went through a two-year period in 2020 maybe 2021, where every time I came down pit road I was terrified. Please, only lose one spot. It was bad for a really long time. It’s just finally turned the page and we’re going the other way now. These guys have been together I think for three consecutive years now."

He added:

"All pit crew, this is a team win for sure. I ended up with those guys at really the right time, right when they were starting to all click on all cylinders."

It remains to be seen whether Denny Hamlin and the #11 pit crew can replicate their performance this coming weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

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Denny Hamlin further elaborates on what made the difference in the #11 pit crew's performance

Speaking about what he thinks is the reason behind the #11 pit crew's stellar performances of late, the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver touched on how the team has had time to know each other.

In conjunction with getting used to each other's tendencies and behavior, Denny Hamlin also touched on how the average age of the team affects performance. He told racingamerica.com:

"I think from my standpoint, these guys have had time to mesh. They've had a few years now working together. I was looking at kind of the average ages of all the pit crews, mine is definitely on the lower end when you average all the ages up. For them to now be on top of their game and be young, they’re right there at the top already."

Watch Denny Hamlin and the #11 pit crew go racing this coming Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.