"It just feels like forever": Denny Hamlin addresses not being on his 'A-Game' amid underwhelming NASCAR playoffs

Ahead of the playoff race at Homestead, Denny Hamlin was asked whether the #11 team is simply lacking speed right now. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has had a quiet playoffs so far with just a single top 5 finish (at Bristol) and three top 10s.

It's worth mentioning that Denny Hamlin has won a race in the playoffs in four of the five seasons (excluding 2024) since 2019.

Addressing this question of a lack of speed for the #11 team during a media interaction, Hamlin agreed and said:

"I certainly think we’re not leading laps. That definitely is an indicator of speed. We haven’t done that over the last handful of weeks. Some of it I think is schedule. We’ve had three of these typical ovals that we’ve had in a series." [2:00]

The JGR veteran mentioned that at Bristol he ran inside the top three all day. But every time he would get near the lead, he'd have a bad pit stop. On top of that, Hamlin pointed to the structure of the schedule which is a combination of road courses where he doesn't expect to lead a lot of laps or have speed.

He remarked on his current situation and added:

"It just feels like forever. It’s certainly not the best time to not be on our A-Game all around, myself included. The good news is we’ve still got a chance even this late in the game."

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Denny Hamlin rules out any major changes to his pit crew ahead of Homestead

While Denny Hamlin has suffered recurring issues on the pit road, he ruled out a change in the #11 crew ahead of Homestead. Hamlin acknowledged the reality of the situation when it comes to his pit crew.

"I think they’re in a slump for sure but we’ve got to ride it out. I feel like that’s the best group we can put on pit road and certainly it's not due to talent or anything like that. They’ve got all the keys they need for that. They were the best pit crew for the first quarter this year but certainly it’s just been a lot of different issues on pit road pretty much most times we’ve come down, it’s been different things," Denny Hamlin described. [00:58]

Hamlin claimed that he can't pinpoint one consistent problem on the pit road that can be fixed, and because of that, he'll have to "see where it goes." As for his hopes of making it to the Final 4 on points, Hamlin, who is currently sitting in 5th place in the standings, simply said that he could but there would have to be a scenario in which the drivers at the top stumble and make a mistake.

And when the drivers up front 'stub their toes,' Hamlin added that he'd have to be 'elite' to capitalize on that opportunity.