Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, used a race strategy that backfired spectacularly at the Atlanta Motor Speedway over the weekend. Hamlin, who ended up finishing 24th and collecting only 13 points, started his race from the back of the grid after a poor qualifying. Despite his data-driven approach, his conservative driving did not yield the success he was looking for.
From the beginning of the race Hamlin was on the back foot. He was over two seconds slower than those close to him during qualifying, slamming him to the back of the grid. Attempting to fix some early technical issues, the team decided to replace the plug wires.
This was also done on teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs’s car. Unlike Hamlin, however, Truex Jr. and Gibbs managed to push forward during the race, showing that their aggressive strategies paid off somewhat better.
Hamlin was determined to avoid risks hoping to be there for when something took out the cars in front, but this didn’t pan out for the driver who finished in 32nd place.
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As the second stage started, he consistently pulled back, fully expecting a major accident. However, his anticipations were not met, and the stage concluded without any hint of drama around him.
The final stage mirrored much of the earlier caution seen in Hamlin’s driving. Remaining at the back, Hamlin found himself stuck in the heavy traffic, or what he described as a “log jam,” making his race a difficult one yet again.
“I thought at the very end we got the Mavis Tire Camry kind of where it needed to be, but by then, you were kind of dealing with a log jam of a couple of lanes that are kind of blocking things and you couldn’t go much of anywhere, so I just tried to avoid the wrecks,” he later explained via Motorsport.com.
Despite intense efforts to steer clear of wrecks throughout the race, Hamlin’s worst fears materialized on the final lap.
“Just saw cars turning sideways in front of me. Tried to avoid wrecks all day and just got in the last one,” he said with frustration.
His car finished, but it was a “crab-walked, damaged finish,” netting far fewer points than his target of 20.
This has affected his standing in the championship. Finishing 24th meant he left Atlanta 11th in the standings, precariously positioned just two points above the cut-line. However, Hamlin is optimistic about the future.
He discussed this on his podcast, admitting that he was too cautious.
“I did what I wanted to do and that was to lay in the back most of the race, and try to see what attrition came about. Again – 20 points seemed really possible, but came up a little short of that today.”
