"We didn’t plan that together" - Denny Hamlin’s crew chief confronts poor Atlanta performance as playoff elimination looms

Denny Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, recently addressed the No. 11 Toyota Camry driver's poor outcome at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and explained the strategy.

Hamlin's race last weekend did not go as planned. He finished 24th and only earned 13 points. He opted for a cautious strategy to avoid early wrecks but ended up far behind the leaders. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was also involved in a last-lap crash that ended his race.

In a recent interview, Hamlin’s crew chief, Gabehart, said they agreed on a careful approach to avoid early crashes. However, he added that he did not expect Hamlin to be so cautious throughout the race.

"I didn’t expect the rest of it to be as conservative as it was on his behalf, and we didn’t plan that together. I wish we would have changed our, I wish we would have. Had I known that was more of an issue in his head, I would have done my best to talk through the scenario ahead of time with him," Gabehart said. [0:29 onwards]

Hamlin’s slow start was due to poor qualifying times and some early technical issues.

“Certainly the start of the race we were both on the same page with Atlanta has proven to be volatile early on... So, we were both on the same page with let’s lay back for a couple of laps, make sure that everybody understands what their car has and you don’t have any early race mistakes that could take us out as a bystander,” he explained.

Moreover, Hamlin's teammates, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs, managed better results with a more aggressive approach.

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"Tried to avoid wrecks all day and just got in the last one" - Denny Hamlin on disappointing Atlanta race

Denny Hamlin, who had also suffered multiple crashes at the track in Atlanta earlier this year, spoke about the wreck after the race. He explained that he struggled to move through the traffic at the end (via Motorsport.com).

The 43-year-old only has a small lead above the playoff cutline and needs strong performances in the upcoming races at Watkins Glen and Bristol to stay in the playoffs.

"Just saw cars turning sideways in front of me. Tried to avoid wrecks all day and just got in the last one... I thought at the very end we got the Mavis Tire Camry kind of where it needed to be, but by then, you were kind of dealing with a log jam of a couple of lanes that are kind of blocking things and you couldn't go much of anywhere, so I just tried to avoid the wrecks," he said.

Denny Hamlin later acknowledged on his podcast that his strategy might have been wrong and that a timely caution could have changed his finish.