“Created Chaos and a Real Unfair Advantage”: Denny Hamlin & Martin Truex Jr’s Crew Chiefs Slam NASCAR’s “Completely Ridiculous” Decision in Chicago

Despite the Chicago Street race turning out to be a big success for NASCAR, after the race, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr’s crew chiefs expressed their frustration over one controversial decision. The Grant Park 220 race in Chicago saw a delay of 90 minutes after heavy rains lashed the street circuit. This, in turn, led NASCAR to shorten the duration of the race.

Understandably, the decision to announce the reduced race length was delayed as well, resulting in a problem for several teams, while deciding their strategies, because of which some felt they were hard done by.

Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr’s crew chiefs slam NASCAR

Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabeheart expressed after the race, “It created chaos and a real unfair advantage. I understand what they were up against but you can’t let the sporting side go and they did a little.”

Chris Gabehart, crew chief of the JGR 11 on how the timing of shortening the race changed things and why he feels for the 20.

“It created chaos and a real unfair advantage. I understand what they were up against but you can’t let the sporting side go and they did a little.” https://t.co/FHi7SrFg1A pic.twitter.com/B1Uyqu9oGe

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) July 3, 2023

Truex’s crew chief, James Small, sounded frustrated about the delay in getting the information and being unable to plan for a better strategy for the race. He hoped that something like this would never happens in the future again.

After the race, Small said, “To me, it’s completely ridiculous. Like, they have any plans of doing that. They should have told us a lot earlier. Especially when they shortened that 25 minutes. Like any normal racing… They should have told us at the start of the race… If everybody had known that, they would have pitted on lap 31… Hopefully, that never happens again.”

When asked if he would speak with NASCAR regarding the matter, he responded, “I think people more important than me are going to talk to NASCAR about it.”

How was the race for Martin Truex Jr in Chicago?

The race did not go well for Truex Jr after he found himself in tire barriers. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s car slid into a corner, with his breaks seemingly overheated, as he rammed into the barriers. There was no coming back for him after that incident, sadly. He ended up finishing the race in the 32nd place.

Meanwhile, upfront, we witnessed a Project 91 driver, Shane Van Gisbergen took the win at the historic event. He finished ahead of Justin Haley and Chase Elliott. Overall, the race had seen enough action to keep the fans hooked, but Truex certainly will want to forget about his day in Chicago.