Why Joe Gibbs Racing Is Wary of Early Denny Hamlin Dominance Before NASCAR Playoffs Actually Begin

Eleven races into the 2024 Cup Series season, Joe Gibbs Racing continues to be the team to be taken down. Denny Hamlin won, once again, in Dover on Sunday and gave his team its fourth win of 2024. With all four of Coach Gibbs’ men putting up stellar performances, the obvious expectation is that they will all contend for the championship. However, cautiousness runs high within the camp.

Talking to the press in Dover, team owner Gibbs voiced his understanding that teams that haven’t won yet will eventually catch a break and pose a greater challenge to them. He said, “I definitely think other teams are going to step up out there and make their presence felt. I think we have got off to a good start, Hendrick [Motorsports] and us.”

“But I think this is very competitive and I think that’s what we’ll see as we go forward.” Picking up on his words, Denny Hamlins’ crew chief Chris Gabehart brought up some striking examples that reflected why it made sense to not let the initial promise get to their heads. Part of his detailing was the exemplary midseason run that Hamlin and Kevin Harvick had in 2020 and subsequent struggle.

He said, “For the middle part of the season in 2020, it was the #11 or the #4 every week. I can tell you how that ended. The #4 did not make the Championship 4 and the #11 almost did not.” He continued to note that when a team is at the top level in any sport there are a lot of contenders shooting at it. This, justifiably, makes every race week a tougher ordeal to deal with.

In 2020, Hamlin had 7 victories and faced a tough battle before making it into the Championship 4. Meanwhile, Harvick faced harsher winds despite winning the regular season championship and producing 9 victories throughout the season. He failed to make it into the Championship 4 after finishing 17th in Martinsville. With instances like these found aplenty in NASCAR’s grounds, prudence is the way to go.

Gabehart concluded to the press that the dream run will end at some point. His job is to make it last for as long as he possibly can. “I want it to last forever and we will work our guts out to make sure it does,” he said. “We’ve had a great running as #11 team over the years but this is not permanent and it’ll end at some point. We’re just going to work every week to try to keep it from ending.”