Denny Hamlin turns his season around with win at Richmond
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
RICHMOND, Va. – Denny Hamlin has had such a bad season, he had not even looked at where he was positioned in the NASCAR Cup Series standings over the first five weeks of the year.
He took a look last week — he was 22nd after six races — and likely now won’t mind seeing where he sits as he captured the victory Sunday at his home track at Richmond Raceway.
The victory all but solidifies Hamlin’s position in the playoffs. Not that he was sweating it.
"Am I worried about making the playoffs? ... No," Hamlin said Saturday, the day before his 47th career Cup win.
Denny Hamlin on his win at Richmond
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Three takeaways from the Toyota Owners 400:
Hamlin Tire Strategy Prevails
Hamlin passed William Byron with five laps remaining to capture the win. Hamlin pitted twice over the final 137 laps, which were all run under green, while Byron had pitted once.
Having fresher tires means faster lap speeds, but pitting to put those tires on obviously takes time — and the long green-flag run challenged teams to decide which strategy would provide the best result.
"I never even saw William ... until eight [laps] to go," Hamlin said. "Once I kind of looked at the gap that I gained from eight to go to six to go, I was like, ‘We’re going to catch him.’"
Hamlin passes Byron late at Richmond
Joe Gibbs Racing used a new pit stop choreography that just became legal in NASCAR two weeks ago, where all the tire changers run in front of the car instead of one in front and one from behind when it enters the pits.
The final two pit stops for the Hamlin team were 9.3 seconds and 9.4 seconds — the fastest for that crew this season, according to JGR.
"I’m glad we were able to kind of turn the ship around at least for a week, and then next week, we’re going to see if we really start to build some momentum," said Hamlin, whose best finish this year prior to Sunday was 13th.
Byron, Truex Helpless
Byron led 122 laps and Martin Truex Jr. led 80 laps, and both drivers employed the one-stop strategy.
Byron pitted with 89 laps remaining on the 0.75-mile track; Truex pitted with 76 laps left. So Byron thought he was racing Truex for the win.
Instead, Hamlin (who pitted with 90 laps left and again with 46 laps left) and Kevin Harvick (who pitted with 92 laps left and then with 47 laps left) were able to get by Byron to finish 1-2.
"I’m just trying to put consistent laps together," Byron said about trying to hold off Hamlin and Harvick. "The more you push these tires, especially at a place like this with this low grip, the slower you’re going to go. ... There at the end, we obviously didn’t have enough."
William Byron on his race approach
Truex, who had used a two-stop strategy to win the second stage, said he cooked his tires too much to be strong enough at the end. He finished fourth, behind Hamlin, Harvick and Byron.
"We just tried to gamble, tried to gamble on beating the 24 [of Byron]," Truex said. "He ended up trying to do our strategy, which we both screwed up."
Kyle Busch's Tale of the Tape
NASCAR forced Kyle Busch to pit with 49 laps remaining to remove tape from the grille of the car. No one will argue that the tape was in an area that a new rule in 2022 forbids.
But what was frustrating to Busch crew chief Ben Beshore was that they had put the tape on during a pit stop on Lap 126 — with 264 laps left in the race.
The team had put the tape in the wrong spot; it had meant to put it over the brake cooling opening in the grille, an area where it is permitted. But with it being a small piece of tape, Beshore said he figured it would just fly off and didn’t think NASCAR would black-flag him for it, especially after it had been on for so long.
Joe Gibbs on Kyle Busch's black flag at Richmond
Beshore talked with NASCAR officials after the race, and they indicated they need some time to review video to make sure that the team had put the tape on the car and that it wasn’t debris from the racetrack. A NASCAR spokesman confirmed that process, but NASCAR wouldn’t say when it first noticed the tape.
"If that was a penalty, then address it," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "It wasn’t until [at least] two stops later, so I think that’s our concern. That would completely change their strategy.
"That will be something we will discuss [with NASCAR] and go on."
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
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