Denny Hamlin did not go into Sunday’s race at Phoenix with very high expectations from NASCAR’s upgraded short track package for the Next Gen car. He was holding onto his longtime ask for more horsepower and believed that it was the only way to improve the racing experience. After the day’s 312 laps, that belief did not appear as strong.
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The Joe Gibbs Racing star was one of the most dominant drivers on the field during the race. Having won the pole, Denny Hamlin was engaged in a constant battle with Tyler Reddick for the lead through most of the three stages. However, a mistake in the final stage caused him to spin out by himself and foil his chances of victory.
While he was uncharacteristically optimistic about the package upgrades after the race, he remained fixated that passing was still a problem on the track. He said to Frontstretch, “It’s difficult [to pass] for sure. The cars put off a big wake, but that’s just part of it. If you had a good car, you could make [up] ground.”
Maintaining that he wasn’t super disappointed with the package, he concluded, “I’m overall optimistic that we found something that was a little better coming to this racetrack than what we had. Just need to be a smidge better, then we’ll be right there.”
Hamlin was forced to pit after the spin and re-emerged with four new tires that helped him finish the race.
Denny Hamlin owns up mistake for the spin and credits competitors
Hamlin completed the race, as per Jayski, in 11th place after leading 68 laps and collecting 42 points. Being the pole-sitter, he had the advantage of the first box on the lane. He finished the first two stages in 3rd place and started the final one next to Tyler Reddick. It was when battling hard with him that Hamlin lost control.
He said to Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass after the race, “Yeah I got beat on a few restarts by the 45 on the high side so I decided to try to keep pushing the entry as much as I could and just couldn’t hold my line there.” He continued to acknowledge that his teammate, Christopher Bell, had the best car and was the best driver of the day.
Denny Hamlin said his spin was all on him. His thoughts after finishing 11th on a day where he led 68 laps. pic.twitter.com/tGnakpdYbz
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 10, 2024
Thus far, Hamlin has finished inside the top 20 in each of the four races. However, his 11th-place finish is only a tad bit better than his best result of 8th (Las Vegas) so far. The positive side is that Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota had a promising outing on the short track with plenty of pace.
Hamlin will be looking forward to Bristol to finally get his engine running to finish first.
