With 97 circuits remaining in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire, Denny Hamlin cruised down pit road under caution for a four-tire pit stop.
In a call that was made on the fly, Hamlin’s No. 11 stopped inside his pit box, only for his pit crew to not be there. Unaware that it was a four-tire stop, the Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew scrambled to service Hamlin’s car and get him off pit road.
The miscue cost Hamlin a number of positions. Yet, the 45-year-old salvaged the day and brought his JGR Toyota home in seventh place.
Hamlin explains pit stop miscue: ‘They weren’t ready’
It all stemmed from a radio miscommunication.
During the caution period, Chris Gayle, Denny Hamlin’s crew chief, said “enchilada” over the radio, seemingly a code word for a four-tire pit stop.
On the most recent episode of his “Actions Detrimental” podcast, Hamlin said his pit crew got confused by the radio chatter, believing the call was not for four tires.
“I knew what the call was. The call was to stay. Then, if you heard my radio, I said, ‘I hear you, but be ready just in case,’ because I knew this could be an opportunity where I get the advantage. I wanted to be the first guy that peels down there, I’m going to drag some with me, which we did — unfortunately, the cars we dragged with us were the ones that passed us on pit lane because we weren’t ready,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin said he, Gayle, and spotter Chris Lambert knew what the call was. Unfortunately for the No. 11 team, Hamlin’s pit crew did not get the memo.
“Me and [Chris] Gayle got it. He understood it. The spotter knew it because, we’re coming, we’re coming. Gayle knew it because he called me into the pit box, but the pit crew, yeah, they weren’t ready,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin praises pit crew despite New Hampshire debacle
It was certainly a misunderstanding on the part of Hamlin’s pit crew, and the 64-time Cup Series winner drew it up to just that.
Hamlin laughed off the New Hampshire incident and did not throw his pit crew under the bus. Because of the amount of pit stops they have executed this year, Hamlin felt the need to give his crew a pass.
“They’ve had like 100 pit stops I feel like. I’m going to give them a bye on this one,” Hamlin said.
Because the pit crew misunderstood the code word, Hamlin chuckled that they looked surprised when his No. 11 machine pulled into their box.
“It probably caught them off guard when I showed up in their pit box,” Hamlin said.
With one regular-season race remaining, Hamlin has locked up the top seed for the 10-race Chase. Seeking an elusive first Cup Series championship this season, Hamlin holds a 77-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.
As stellar as Hamlin has been on-track this season with four victories, he said he could not have done it without his team.
“We built the massive lead. It’s not just me. I’ve got a really good pit crew,” Hamlin said.
NASCAR: Denny Hamlin Explains New Hampshire Pit Stop Debacle