“They don’t want to make mistakes”: Denny Hamlin sheds light on his dynamic with his pit crew after a disastrous day in Kansas

In the words of Denny Hamlin, Sunday was the "worst day ever" for the No. 11 team. Despite having the "fastest" car, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver could not win and had to settle for a P8 finish at Kansas. However, in a recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin said that his team is entirely devoted to the No. 11 Toyota Camry.

Hamlin was running inside the top 5 when the team had their first issue. As a result, he got relegated outside of the top 10 as he exited the pit road. Nevertheless, the Tampa, Florida native managed to deliver a top-5 finish in the first stage.

The biggest blow came when he committed to the pit road on lap 167, at the end of Stage 2. This pushed him further to the rear end of the 38-car field. Hamlin hoped for a salvaging restart when the field went yellow with 32 laps until the checkered flag, but that never happened.

Hamlin was visibly frustrated. During a post-race interview with Bob Pockrass, he said:

"We should have won the race. We had the fastest car but every time when we get to the top-3, a caution comes out (and) we restart 5th or 20th."

Who was Hamlin frustrated with? Was it the No. 11 crew or was it with the circumstances of the race? The veteran racer explained in his podcast,

"I love my team. We're all close and these guys live and breathe the 11 car. They don't want to make mistakes. They don't want to have a bad day on pit road. They wanna help us win the race, like they did at Richmond earlier this year. We've had many days where the 11 team has been P1 on pit road."

"So, while I can be upset and frustrated in that moment, which I think I'm allowed to do, you're also allowed to turn the page the next day and say, 'All right, well, let's go to work. Let's figure this out. Because I need you this weekend," Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin currently sits on an 11-point advantage over the provisional cutline, with 3051 points to his name. His next race is at Talladega Superspeedway on October 6.

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Denny Hamlin maintains firm stance amid longtime partner's rumored exit

FedEx has been a partner of Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team for almost 20 years now. However, rumors regarding the potential exit of the international shipping company from JGR's camp have been circulating through the alleys of NASCAR lately.

Reflecting on his relationship with the Memphis-based company, Hamlin said (as per Yardbarker):

"It's been a fantastic partnership that we've had nearly 20 years. They're the ones that really took a risk on me when I was just running the Xfinity Series about fifth to eighth every week...that risk paid off for many many years and couldn't be happier to be aligned with FedEx and certainly I got to do lot of great things off the track as well."

FedEx reduced its involvement in the No. 11 JGR team for the first time in 2022. Come 2024, the $65.37 billion giant might completely part ways with Joe Gibbs Racing. FedEx expects about a $4 billion cut in its costs by the end of fiscal year 2025, expecting an 8% year-over-year growth.

Despite FedEx's potential NASCAR exit, Denny Hamlin remains determined to keep putting in the work and finish strong every week.

"Certainly, everyone can run fast when they go up by the wall, but can you run fast when you actually have to pass someone and have to go down low," Hamlin said in a recent (via Newsweek). "I think our ability and the versatility of our car over the last few years is really what's made us excel and just the momentum-based type of racing that we have on these mile-and-a-halves. It seems like I've adapted to that type of style."

Fans can watch Hamlin in action next week on NBC and USA from 2 PM ET onwards. MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide live radio updates as the 188-lap event plays out.