Denny Hamlin’s Championship 4 aspirations took a big hit at Martinsville earlier this weekend when the #11 driver crashed during the practice session. Hamlin finished the race in 5th place, essentially knocking himself out of contention for the title race. Charting back to his incident earlier this weekend, NASCAR has been centered as the cause for his shunt.
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IMSA mechanic, Bozi Tatarevic has theorized on X (formerly Twitter) that the newest soft compound tire introduced by NASCAR might have been the reason for Hamlin’s crash. In the aftermath of the incident, it was revealed that a stuck throttle had led to the #11 driver’s off and extensively damaged his car’s rear end.
“I tried to do everything I can to not hit head-on. At that point, I was trying to do everything that I can to keep the thing spun around so that I can try to get the car to slide forward instead of backward, but obviously, with this small track, it’s hard to keep it off the wall,” explained Hamlin.
This is a discarded piece of rubber removed from the No. 11 car like the one that may have gotten jammed into its the throttle linkage.
Let’s dig into why the new softer compound may have played a part in this incident and what this means for the race. pic.twitter.com/zYaQBPg6mE
— Bozi Tatarevic (@BoziTatarevic) November 2, 2024
Tatarevic and Hamlin‘s crew chief, Chris Gabehart both agree that a dislodged piece of rubber from Hamlin’s front tires may have gotten itself stuck into the throttle linkage of the #11 car. This led to a situation where the throttle remained ‘open’ and Hamlin’s car did not slow down.
NASCAR cars usually have rear-fenders that keep any loose debris out of the viscera of the car. However, the front of these cars doesn’t have such provisions. This meant that the piece of tarmac found its way into the linkage — leading to the required ‘return action’ of the throttle malfunctioning.
“Chris [Gabeheart] sent me a picture; there’s a huge chunk of rubber in the throttle body that hung it right open,” revealed Hamlin finally proving that the loose rubber from his soft tires caused his hefty meeting with the barriers.
