Denny Hamlin’s race on Sunday at Kansas was not a complete disaster for him, unlike last week at Darlington. Despite running well, he just could not muster a win when he had the chance to. He did finish in second place though, right behind 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick.
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Following the race, Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, spoke with the media and let out his frustration on being unable to win yet another important playoff race. He discussed how they had executed the perfect strategy but were just not good enough for the restart.
Hamlin’s crew chief was disappointed in missing out on another crucial win
The crew chief of the #11 car stated, “…As the race passes on you’re trying to figure out, hey now what we’re going to do… We executed perfectly in terms of our strategy and what I needed to do with the car with the help of my team and I thought all that was great. We just didn’t execute the restart.”
When he was asked if they had planned to go with a two-tire strategy instead, Gabehart stated, “Yeah, there definitely was. I thought the worst-case scenario we are going to restart in the third or fourth row and I thought that was enough to win the race. And it was, I mean four tires won the race with the #45 pretty easily. If we had a better restart, I think we would have had a great shot at it too.”
Finally, the reporter inquired whether the recent trend of having the best car but not being able to finish the race was a source of optimism or disappointment for the team.
The crew chief replied, “I mean, right now, more disappointment. Hate to keep losing races you are supposed to win. But the truth is we are capable of going, Kansas is a really great racetrack for us. So is Darlington, Bristol’s really good. So you want to capitalize on your strengths and so it’s frustrating when you don’t. But at the same time, first things first you gotta be fast enough to win, and clearly we aren’t.”
Denny Hamlin’s driver Tyler Reddick wins at Kansas
Hamlin’s 23XI Racing team had a great run at Kansas. Following the final restart, the leaders Joey Logano and Erik Jones had been battling for the lead.
But while they had been fighting, Tyler Reddick dove down the inside going three wide, and claimed the lead instead. Thereafter, being on fresh tires he managed to build up a lead, and eventually won the race. Ultimately, the #45’s win propelled him into the next round of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace did not have the same luck as Reddick. Despite showing impressive speed earlier in the race, Wallace’s car got loose through a corner and hit the wall, resulting in a broken toe link. At the end of the race, Wallace could only muster a 32nd-place finish.
