Denny Hamlin gives props to replacement pit crew despite crushing late stop at Kansas

Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team were working with a new-look pit crew for this past Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. Crew members Austin Maloney and Joel Bouagnon began serving a two-race suspension after a wheel came off during the Bristol Night Race earlier this month.

The results were mixed, including a costly issue with the replacement jackman on the final pit stop of the day. Hamlin came in the race leader and exited P6. Hamlin acknowledged the pit road problems but still gave props to his crew.

“I’m gonna give props to my pit crew,” Hamlin said on Monday’s Actions Detrimental podcast. ” … These guys are filling in, and they got a tough task. They hadn’t been in this position all year, maybe once or twice. I get it, the last pit stop was the one that is focused on. We did have one earlier, we came in first and come out fifth, sixth. I had driven my car the first run, I come in, I pit, we lose five spots, and I immediately say, ‘We’re all good. I’m gonna get this right back, don’t worry.’

“I just knew what I had, but when it happens with a few laps to go, there’s just not much you’re gonna be able to do. It’s not like I just got a different pit crew, we put parts of this team together, part of my other team with them, like, pit crew members — their footwork matters. They’re dancing together. The jackman and the tire carrier and the changer and the carrier, when they run around the car, they get used to where all the other people step. It’s all choreographed.”

Denny Hamlin falls short of 60th NASCAR Cup Series win

Hamlin was on his way to picking up his sixth win of the season before that final caution. He managed to get back in contention on the final lap, chasing down Bubba Wallace. Hamlin went for the pass on Turn 3 of the final lap of overtime but washed up the track, making contact with Wallace who brushed the wall. That lost both of them the race, as Chase Elliott drove by to take the checkered flag.

Hamlin was disappointed after the race. He wanted win No. 60 of his NASCAR Cup Series career and the chance to make up for his jackman’s mistake.

“The guy’s head was slumped. You don’t think he felt it?” Hamlin said. “Do you know how rewarding it would have been to win that race for me and make up for that? Like, I think everyone sometimes can get guilty of seeing it through their lens and saying, ‘Ah, you did me wrong.’ No, maybe think about my motivations.

“There’s nothing I wanted more than to win that race after those issues, and then go to Victory Lane, go to the jackman and say, ‘I got you.’ That would have been awesome, but it didn’t happen.”