Even if Denny Hamlin wasn’t involved, the No. 11 wheelman’s team was excited about the finish to last weekend’s race at Atlanta.
How could you not be? The three-wide photo-finish that saw Daniel Suárez come away victorious over Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch was pretty epic. Still, it stung a bit for Hamlin, as he was leading the race late before a late wreck ruined his chances at a win in Georgia.
After the dust settled, Hamlin took to his latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, where the Joe Gibbs Racing driver explained what his team’s reaction was to the legendary finish on Sunday evening.
“Holy cow, what a race,” Hamlin stated. “I knew the fans were going to love it, when my team guys, who just spent five or seven minutes, whatever the DVP clock is, which is the damaged vehicle policy, trying to fix my car, it’s beat all to hell. We’re running around half-speed for those few laps. Come to the car, and they were all like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe what we just saw. It was just — you guys are nuts.’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m in a crappy mood, because once again, 30 laps to go, two weeks in a row, I’m leading the race, and twice I end up getting wrecked, or getting in a wreck, or causing a wreck. I don’t even know at this point.
“But it seems like, so I’m kind of frustrated about the result, and they’re just like, ‘Oh my gosh, amazing. Did you see the finish?’ I’m like, ‘Guys, it was on the other side of the track, no. I’m putting around here at 120 miles per hour. No, I did not see the finish.’ So I did see it, and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ You know, just total ‘Denny Downer,’ because I’m crapped out about my day, but as time goes on, you kind of get over it, and then you realize, I log onto social media and I’m seeing how much press it’s getting, how much social media buzz it’s getting.”
It makes sense why Hamlin wasn’t eager to speak about the finish he didn’t see, but he certainly understood the magnitude of the situation when he was shown the finish following the race.
Perhaps Denny Hamlin will have some better luck when the Cup Series goes to Las Vegas this weekend. We’ll see if the Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman can capture his first win of the 2024 season as the campaign moves to Sin City.
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