"That was a crucial moment": Denny Hamlin comments on his revival from three-fold misery 'struggle' in Las Vegas

Denny Hamlin reflected on his race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he finished within the top 10 despite a three-fold misery ‘struggle.’ He spoke about the crucial moment to stay in the lead lap after dealing with issues from the car and the No. 11 pit crew.

Hamlin is a 43-year-old veteran who drives the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is one of the eight drivers to stay alive in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 along with teammate Christopher Bell, who pilots the No. 20 car.

In the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin commented on a crucial moment that kept him in the race:

“We’re on our heels from that point on. From then to the end of stage two, we were just struggling. Luckily, we were able to fight and stay on the lead lap there when we had those old tires… that was a crucial moment for us to just keep fighting and stay on the lead lap, and that allowed us to grind away this type of finish.”

The 54-time Cup race winner also touched on supporting the strategy calls from the No. 11 pit crew, saying:

“You just never know when the cautions will fall. Chris [No.11 crew chief] will always say, ‘If you tell me when the cautions will fall, I’ll tell you the perfect strategy.’ But you know, it just didn’t work out. I was behind the calls that we made. I just thought that they just didn’t work out. I didn’t think that there was anything alarming on my end that thought was wrong.” [0:45]

During the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hamlin encountered three major setbacks that challenged him to score good points.

The first was a slow pitstop due to poor service on the right front and left rear wheels on lap 33. He sat on the No. 11 pit box for 13.4 seconds, about five seconds slower than race leader and teammate Christopher Bell. As a result, the Virginia native dropped from fifth to 14th.

The next setback was a loose wheel issue after stage 2 where he finished 19th. The left rear wheel wasn’t tightened properly, forcing the driver to reverse back to his box.

The last one was a vibration Hamlin endured for 20 laps. When the driver came in again, the team determined the vibration stemmed from the absence of the weight of the right front wheel.

Denny Hamlin in the No.11 Toyota at the South Point 400 - Source: Imagn

Denny Hamlin may have finished within the top 10 but it wasn’t enough to get him out of the playoff elimination zone. His P8 finish awarded him 29 points, putting him in fifth in the playoff standings and -27 below the cutline.

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Denny Hamlin looks forward to having NASCAR chief hand him the championship trophy amid 23XI’s legal battle

Ahead of the Las Vegas race, Denny Hamlin spoke about his desire to win the championship this year. If the driver wins it all, he looks forward to having Steve Phelps, the president of NASCAR, hand him the championship trophy amid the ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI against the league.

Per veteran NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass, the 23XI co-owner and Joe Gibbs Racing driver said:

“It's a problem I'd love to have is to you know, look towards to have Steve Phelps hand me that championship trophy at Phoenix […] That would just be awesome, right? And we've spoken personally about that and he said he'd be glad to do it. And so certainly, if I win the championship as a driver, I'm the driver of the 11 right, and I represent that team."

Hamlin would have to qualify for the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway first to get the chance to bring home the title. To do so, he should win or score good points in the next two races of the Round of 8 scheduled at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, respectively.