Denny Hamlin knows he treated Texas Motor Speedway fans to a two-for-one special at the end of Sunday’s race. Not only did Hamlin fail on the final lap, but it also caused the end of Chase Elliott’s long winning streak.
In the latest episode of the ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast, the number 11 helmsman explained why he had regrets going for the win and why he was not satisfied with second place.
“That’s what I thought as I was sitting in the pit box and they were hammering the back of my car. Second place is not bad.” I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, second really would have been nice today.’ Listen, I saw this wreck coming five minutes before it happened,” Hamlin explained. “As we’re running, I mean, that’s my job as a driver right, is to think about all the scenarios, and what it’s going to take to win the race. And I’m thinking my first job is, I need to get a good restart and be beside them in turn one and two.
Second job is, I need to be totally beside him entering turn three, so we need to be nose to nose. If I’m behind him, he’s gonna wash up, and then I’m in a bad spot. So I thought about all the scenarios and thought, “What if I don’t win?” Run higher than that all day long. I’ll try it. ‘
“Redick did a good job of that. At this point in the race, he was great. He runs high. So I thought, “Maybe it’s possible.” I’ll try anyway,” but she almost hit her hip a few times. So I thought, should I ride conservatively here or should I go all out to get this win? And I knew that victory would be difficult to come by, so I generally said that I was going to do whatever it took.
I was ready to face the consequences. But when the results came I can say I changed my mind. …I didn’t want to mess it up. But it certainly hurts to think about what would have happened Monday morning if I had just given in. ”
Still, Hamlin is aware that this result was a surprise to his NASCAR fans around the world who were in attendance and probably caused some uproar with Jeff Gluck’s race voting when the result was announced. are doing. “I don’t think the fans want to see me go. They were very happy when No. 11 nailed it to the fence,” Hamlin added. “You know, they want us to try. That’s why they reward us five bonus points for winning in the playoffs, right? It’s what they want, to see us put it down and go for it. And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
And it didn’t. “… I was thinking about this, when Jeff [Gluck] and Jordan [Bianchi] were talking about the good race poll. I’m sure the combination of my crash and number 9’s win is worth 10 points. ”
Denny Hamlin may not be happy, but most NASCAR fans were happy with Sunday’s results. We’ll find out if No. 11 can bounce back this weekend at Talladega, the most unpredictable track in sports.
