Denny Hamlin had an almost perfect race all around at Darlington. Only if he had not come in for an extra pit stop he was a sure bet to win. However, after winning the first two stages, rather effortlessly, he had to dive into the pits after he felt his left rear tire was loose. This put him in a tricky spot, losing out on the lead of the race and a chance to win. It also put him in the back of the field, where he was eventually collected in a wreck, ruining his race further.
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But looking back at the incident, one might think about how a driver knows when their wheel is loose. Explaining just that, former NASCAR driver and Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently explained the Hamlin problem as simply as he could.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. describes Denny Hamlin’s woes at Darlington
While speaking on his podcast, Junior was asked how a driver feels when their tire is loose. The fan who posted the question cited Denny Hamlin when he claimed his tire felt loose and had to return for an extra stop.
Junior responded, “It shakes, like a bad washing machine. It shakes bad. It’s when the wheel is loose it’s one of a kind, it’s a one-of-a-kind feeling. So there’s no way to really confuse that with something else. And so one of the things that is also a good sign of the loose wheel is the vibration getting worse. That’s the wheels getting looser and looser and about to come off the car.”
“I mean, it’s instinct and I know the crew said, ‘Hey, we couldn’t find it.’ But I promise you I trust Denny’s opinion about it that yeah, it was loose. I know it was loose. No question.”
Junior explains how a loose wheel affects performance from experience
Speaking further about the loose wheel issue, Junior noted, “I’ve had enough that have come off and crash. You’re thinking, ‘Well, maybe it’s this maybe it’s not loose wheel. Maybe it’s the brakes. Maybe it’s something else?’ And you are in the fence. And you’re like, ‘Yeah, I should have trusted my gut.'”
Junior further explained that when a tire loses air, it can cause a change in balance, making the car feel loose or tight. The tire may also start to move around in the wheel, causing the wheel to move in any direction it wants. This can eventually lead to the tire being ripped off the wheel, leading to a crash. He added, “So you sort of feel that, that soft, wollowy sort of feeling in the wheel happening inside of the tire. So that’s pretty different.”
That is a pretty well-rounded response for all of the fans that really puts into perspective how it actually feels in situations like these.
