(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin led 38 laps and won Stage 2 in Sunday’s FireKeeper’s Casino 400, but a late pit road penalty took him out of winning contention. However, Hamlin drove from 23rd to third during the final 35-lap run to salvage his afternoon and score a top five at Michigan International Speedway.
“It’s just frustrating,” Hamlin told USA Network after the race. “Just can’t get a W in the column. Hats off to Joe Gibbs Racing for giving me a car that fast and my team for setting it up really good.”
Hamlin qualified for Sunday’s FireKeeper’s Casino 400 in the ninth position after his 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace won his first career pole. Hamlin had tremendous speed throughout the race and finished the first two stages in second and first, respectively.
During the final pit cycle of the race, Christopher Bell tangled with Ross Chastain and hit the wall to bring out a caution. Hamlin along with many leaders pitted on Lap 162 and won the race off pit road. He would’ve restarted behind Kevin Harvick, who stayed out, in second, but the No. 11 team had a penalty for too many crew members over the wall.
A wheel got loose of the No. 11 car during the stop and a crew member stepped over the white line in the pit road opening to retrieve it. The pit penalty was the 31st of the season for the team.
(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
“I’m not really sure how you fix it,” Hamlin said. “I’m not smart enough to run the department to fix it. I just hope that we make strides and keep getting better. It’s just frustrating when you have fast cars like our Toyotas did this weekend, there’s just absolutely no excuse for not winning. We’re the ones that have to look each other in the face on Monday and figure out how we just keep doing this.
“We’ve had really fast cars throughout the year and Dover comes to mind and Pocono comes to mind and this race comes to mind and a bunch of others… This is a piece of the puzzle you have to have to win races. Everyone has to do their job to the best of their ability and we just are lacking in one little section of our team that we just can’t hem up.
“Hopefully we can make it constructive and continue to get better, but obviously it’s disappointing.”
Despite letting a victory slip away, Hamlin scored his fourth top five of the season and improved to 17th in driver’s points. He’s had several races slip away this season preventing a higher points position.
Most recently, Hamlin seemingly won Pocono on July 24 before he was disqualified for a modified front facia using tape. It would’ve been his third victory of the season.
But, as a consolation to another missed opportunity, both of Hamlin’s 23XI Racing cars scored top-10 finishes. Wallace finished second and Ty Gibbs finished 10th in his third race substituting for Kurt Busch. It was Gibbs’ first Cup Series top 10.
“The whole 23XI team just did a phenomenal job from beginning to end,” Hamlin said. This was a well-put-together weekend for all of them. It’s Dave Rogers, it’s Mike Wheeler, it’s Billy Scott helping set up both of these cars. It’s just a lot of puzzle pieces that those guys are starting to do right and have good results.”
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action on Sunday, August 14 at Richmond Raceway with three races remaining in the regular season. The race is scheduled for 3 p.m ET on USA Network. Hamlin won the spring race while Martin Truex Jr. won last year’s fall race.
