Denny Hamlin’s Crew Chief Breaks Silence On Costly Martinsville Strategy Trap

Denny Hamlin needed Martinsville to be the afternoon that changed his championship fortunes. Starting from pole, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had an opportunity to put Kyle Larson under pressure and close the gap before the final race at Homestead. Instead, a strategy decision during the opening stage left him fighting to recover from a deficit that would prove difficult to overcome. The thinking behind the call was understandable. Martinsville has a history of producing early cautions, and Hamlin’s team believed staying out could pay dividends if another interruption brought the field back together.