Rain can cause even the best drivers to struggle and Denny Hamlin found that out first-hand on Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver managed to win the second stage at Loudon, but the rain came shortly afterward, completely killing his momentum. In a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, the veteran explained what went wrong in the final stage.
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As the track was drying up, drivers looked for the fastest line. While his teammate Christopher Bell figured that out early and was comfortably edging toward the win, Hamlin was struggling. The #11 car just would not turn and he was forced to take a line that allowed others to drive right around him. He was essentially a sitting duck for several drivers to pick off.
“I was forced to have to run a line that would make my car make a corner but it was not the fastest line so everyone was just going around me so it was a…that part was a helpless feeling for sure,” he said.
You have to do the best you can with what the car is giving you in return – even if its frustrating 🙃 pic.twitter.com/zNTpV2GgJT
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The conditions at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway gave rise to a race unlike anything the track had seen in the recent past. The tires played a big role in deciding the results and only a few racers understood how to optimize their situation.
Why were only a few drivers better than the rest of the pack?
Hamlin explained that drivers with experience racing on slippery surfaces drove to the front of the field. Especially the ones who have raced on dirt all raced comfortably while others struggled to find grip on the tires. The likes of Bell and Chase Briscoe have ample experience racing those surfaces so they knew how to get the most out of those tires.
“They’ve got a technique that works for them. They trust the tire to have grip. Some of it too is setup based where certainly what is a good dry weather setup is not a good wet weather setup,” he explained.
The Loudon race was an important one in the context of the next era of Cup Series racing. Running on wet tracks was never a steady option for the promotion. But with Goodyear’s latest innovation, NASCAR has made a big leap to make racing more interesting.
