Sunday wasn’t a good time to be a Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Despite having put in some great performances over the course of the season, Coach Gibbs’ men faced ill-luck that dismantled their efforts in Talladega. The errors struck right from Stage 1 and ended with Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell finishing 37th and 38th, respectively.
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The most costly mistake of the day came in Lap 156 when a seven-car pack of Toyotas, including the #11 of Hamlin, filed up behind each other. A slight contact from Bubba Wallace sent Erik Jones into the safety barrier, collecting John Hunter Nemechek and Denny Hamlin along with him.
The seven Toyotas had pitted earlier in Lap 151 and were hoping to get past the Fords and Chevrolets together. Unfortunately, the mistake thwarted that plan and sent four of the cars to the garage. Hamlin was absolutely confident later that they could’ve contended for the win if not for the wreck.
Driving the #20 Toyota Camry XSE, Christopher Bell did not have a great race either. He was spinned out in Lap 133 after contact from Justin Haley. The incident brought forth the first on-track caution of the day. With Hamlin and Bell failing to create any sort of positive impact, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs salvaged some double digit points.
Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs fail to finish inside top ten at Talladega despite escaping wrecks
Truex Jr. was Joe Gibbs Racing’s best finisher on Sunday coming in 11th place. He led 16 laps during the race and collected 26 points at the end of it. Ty Gibbs, on the other hand, finished in 22nd place and collected 16 points. Truex Jr. continues to be the highest driver on the points table (second) without a win.
After the crashes that ended their days, Hamlin and Bell were left clueless as to what led to the tragedy. Hamlin said as reported by NBC, “I was in the back of it, so I didn’t see what got (Erik Jones) turned. Obviously, we were trying to run a good lap time there, and I thought we were really good on pace and then we just crashed. I’m really not sure honestly. I didn’t see it.”
Equally in the dark as his teammate, Bell quipped, “I’ve got no idea. I just saw a replay and it just looked like a stack up in the middle lane and unfortunately, I was in the wrong spot. I was in ride it out mode and got hit.” All the four men of Coach Gibbs will be looking forward to the next Cup Series race in Dover to bounce back.
