Chase Elliott’s incident at Watkins Glen, was something no one would have believed could have happened. Especially in a must-win scenario race. After a colossal misunderstanding, Chase Elliott ended up without fuel and was stranded in the middle of the track. Subsequently, he fell down the order and was never able to recover from a lap down. Recently, fellow racing driver, Denny Hamlin spoke about the bizarre matter on his podcast; Actions Detrimental.
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During the ensuing conversation, Hamlin mentioned how he could not believe how a big team like Hendrick Motorsports failed to see through their gross miscalculation. Furthermore, the JGR driver also pinned the blame on the entire team for the fuel mishap, including Elliott.
Denny Hamlin says the entire #9 team was to blame for Chase Elliott’s fuel drama
During the podcast, Hamlin stated, “It’s hard not to throw someone under the bus here. Except for the entire team. People want to pin this on Alan Gustafson. You can try and he is the leader. He’s responsible. But where’s Chase Elliot in this?”
He added, “I mean, he’s experienced enough if Chris, I shouldn’t say if Chris Gabehart (Crew chief for the #11 car) said to me flip your switch and then come third time by I immediately was said um, that’s not right. I would have said that’s not right. It’s not their third time. I can’t go that far, I know I cannot go that far. That’s just that’s elementary.”
“Um, so they said it multiple times. And why was it not a red flag to anyone that was hearing it? They have a warm room of people that listen to the communication as well. Where is the button? We’re so insane. Did he just say third time by, can we roll that back? Because that’s what they would do. They’re recording all the audio.”
“Hey Alan that’s not right, he needs to come next time. I just find it so extremely bizarre, not Chase, not Alan, or not anyone that heard that communication multiple times did not raise their hands and say, ‘Are we sure our math is correct? because it is three times worse than it should be. There is no way, he’d be lucky to go a lap.'”
Hamlin finds Alan Gustafson’s statement “crazy”
Hamlin later claimed that he applauds Alan Gusfatson considering he refused to elaborate on their “internal stuff.” Despite that, Hamlin emphasized that he finds it bizarre what happened, happened.
“From my standpoint, I find it crazy to believe that not the driver or anyone was not surprised hearing that statement. There has to be some sort of trigger that this is not right,” he said.
Hamlin’s bewilderment at what transpired at Hendrick Motorsports is highly understandable. Running out of fuel on such an important race, could not have happened just like that. Especially considering that teams have a war room full of people listening to the conversations.
