Denny Hamlin Criticizes RWR’s Tire Strategy After Cody Ware’s Kansas Spin

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Denny Hamlin Criticizes RWR’s Tire Strategy After Cody Ware’s Kansas Spin

Originally posted on RFKRacingDigest
By Chionia Libania Colaco | Last updated Apr 22, 2026 10:40 AM ET

Denny Hamlin’s dominant run at Kansas ended in heartbreak. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led the race for 131 laps but was forced to settle for an eventual fourth-place finish.

On Sunday, just as Hamlin was about to take the white flag in the 268-lap race, the lapped car of Cody Ware spun around. This incident brought out the caution and threw the race into overtime, where Hamlin couldn’t defend his lead.

On Monday, Ware’s spotter, Brent Wentz, quoted an X post put out by Steven Taranto showing the snippet of Ware’s spin from his onboard camera. Wentz defended the team and the gamble they made of leaving Ware out on older tires.

An excerpt from his tweet read: “Unfortunately today we had a tire go down 10 laps after some wall contact, 38-71-8 were all on our lap at that moment, we felt it out for a few laps, seemed to be ok to complete the event distance. Obviously that didn’t shake out… tough deal.”

Denny Hamlin reacted to the post and did not hold back in his response. He wrote, “I mean, 60+ laps on tires that were cording after 40. Eventually, yeah, tires pop if you don’t change them.”

I mean. 60+ laps on tires that were cording after 40.. eventually yea, tires pop if you don’t change them.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 20, 2026

Had the caution not been thrown out, Denny Hamlin would have won the race. Tyler Reddick had a fuel issue and was struggling at the end. However, the caution played into Reddick’s hands, giving him a free pit stop to rectify the issue and eventually win the race with a last-lap overtake on Kyle Larson.

Denny Hamlin and Rick Ware Racing’s argument went further

Following the comment made by Hamlin, Wentz tried to de-escalate the situation. He put out an X post explaining that he empathized with the driver, and that the team tried to put their best foot forward, and it was unfortunate the way things panned out during the race.

To that, Hamlin replied, “Ive always thought the 51 has been respectful to the leaders especially late in races. Just a really tough spot to put the driver in to expect him to go 65 laps on a set of tires that clearly had significant wear after 40.”

Carson Ware replied to Hamlin’s post, thanking him for not directly blaming his brother, Cody, for the spin, and instead for highlighting the team’s tire decision.

If things had ended differently, Denny Hamlin would have won his 62nd NASCAR Cup Series race and the second of 2026. Despite the fourth-place finish, he remained second in the championship standings.

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This article first appeared on RFKRacingDigest and was syndicated with permission.

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