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Denny Hamlin's weekend in Sonoma was a tale of two halves as he bagged the pole position on Saturday but ended up last in the race on Sunday. Hamlin's weekend was ruined by a late race crash, and he only had himself to blame for the mistake.
Having started the race in the front row, Hamlin won the first stage, but a caution in the second stage ruined his race strategy, causing him to fall behind. However, Hamlin recovered well and was back inside the top 10 with less than 20 laps to go for the checkered flag.
On Lap 95, he clipped the inside wall on Turn 11 and lost control of the car on the exit, and crashed into the outside wall on the front stretch. The car spun around and then slammed into the inside wall. The #11 Toyota suffered from a broken toe link and retired from the race.
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NASCAR fans jumped on Denny Hamlin's mistake as they trolled the #11 driver on social media. Recently, Hamlin had asked for the suspension of Chase Elliott for intentionally wrecking him at the Coca-Cola 600.
A Twitter user hilariously stated that Hamlin would plead with NASCAR to suspend the Turn 11 wall following his crash at Sonoma.
Here are a few other reactions:
Denny Hamlin explains why reason he crashed at Sonoma Raceway
Denny Hamlin was running in the top 10 when he crashed out of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. After Hamlin parked his car, he was taken to the infield care center.
Exiting the care center, Hamlin explained why he brushed the inside wall. Speaking to Frontstretch, he said:
"I was really close behind the #24, and I couldn't really see where I was going. I went to turn left to try to peek underneath him, and the wall was there."
Hamlin was asked why the car wasn't repaired, to which he replied:
"Everything was beat up pretty good. It was doubtful we were going to get it fixed, it was bad as I messed it up."
Despite a DNF for the #11 team, it was a good weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing, as Martin Truex Jr. took the checkered flag to win his second race of the season. Truex Jr. was dominant on the track as he led 51 laps while Denny Hamlin led 33 laps.
Speaking about JGR's speed on road courses, the #11 driver said:
"It was a good day, certainly that one caution right before the second stage hurt us as far as track position. Overall I was pretty happy with our speed."
JGR driver Christopher Bell finished inside the top 10, while Ty Gibbs took home an 18th-place finish.
