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Denny Hamlin's ultimate P3 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series race in Michigan did not come easy for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. While the #11 Toyota Camry TRD was one of the better cars to challenge during the FireKeepers Casino 400, his teammate Martin Truex Jr. seemed to have the most pace of any driver in the field.
With track position and strategy playing a vital role in the 400-mile-long race at Michigan International Speedway, Hamlin seemed positive about his relative pace to Truex Jr. Racing on a Monday trying to finish a race that kicked off on Sunday.
The Tampa, Florida native also seemed to have troubles on pit road during one of his green flag pit stops.
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Unable to move after the crew finished working on his car, Denny Hamlin was seen struggling to start his engine, which had stalled in his pit box. After a slight push from the crew and a few moments stationary on the pit road, the #11 Toyota driver was able to continue.
He elaborated on the incident in a post-race interview with NBC Sports.
"I just stalled it and couldn't get it refired. Something with the ECU just had to get it refired and cycled there. I thought we were really close with the #19 (Martin Truex Jr.). He got through traffic better than I did all day, and it looks like the #17 (Chris Buescher) was pretty good too," Hamlin said.
Despite having issues on pit road and not being able to contend for the win come the final laps of the race, Denny Hamlin finished in the top three on Monday.
Denny Hamlin speaks on variable track conditions between Sunday and Monday at Michigan
After the FireKeepers Casino 400 was red-flagged on Sunday due to inclement weather, the race concluded on Monday as RFK Racing's Chris Buescher held off Martin Truex Jr.
With overcast weather conditions and cooler track temperatures to deal with, Denny Hamlin spoke about how the track conditions were different on Monday than Sunday.
He said in an interview with NBC Sports:
“It wasn’t a whole lot different. These conditions are cooler, cloudy, more on-throttle time, and harder to pass. But that is kind of what you get here at Michigan, it’s a track position, track strategy track.”
NASCAR goes live from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend for the twists and turns of the Brickyard's road course layout.
