Denny Hamlin crashes in pivotal Martinsville practice

Denny Hamlin crashed during Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Martinsville Speedway, creating a significant hurdle for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team, which will start at the rear of the field in Sunday’s Round of 8 finale.

Entering Turn 3, Hamlin carried tremendous speed before sending his Toyota into a skid, careening rear-first into the outside retaining SAFER barrier.

“(Expletive) throttle stuck,” Hamlin radioed to his crew.

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Hamlin wheeled the No. 11 Toyota back to the garage area and exited the vehicle under his own power, slamming his helmet onto his roof upon exit in frustration. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center.

“I went in Turn 3, and the car just didn’t slow down, and the throttle hung on us,” Hamlin said. “So that certainly caught me off guard. But it happens, you know. We just got unlucky.”

The No. 11 crew pared away crumpled body panels from the primary car in the team’s garage stall, then sent the car through inspection to determine if the wreck altered its measurements. The team worked through the afternoon to make repairs at the track, opting against unloading a reserve No. 11. Crew members went to the JGR No. 54 hauler and unloaded a massive tool cart, loaded with spare bodywork and components.

Hamlin said that No. 11 crew chief Chris Gabehart had shown him how a stray chunk of rubber had found its way under the hood, lodging into the throttle body to cause the incident. Hamlin indicated he’d had a sticking throttle before, but never one that held wide open. “I mean, if it’s a one in 100,000 chance, it’s going to fall on me,” Hamlin said of the fluke occurrence, “so I’ll probably have it again.”

The No. 11 Toyota had posted the fastest lap of Saturday afternoon’s practice at 19.957 seconds before the incident, a figure that was eclipsed only by JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. and Corey LaJoie later in the session. Hamlin did not participate in Cup Series qualifying and will have to start Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) from the rear of the field. The team will also be last in the pecking order for pit-stall selection and will try to make measured headway early in the 500-lap race.

“That will be the short-term goal, yeah, is certainly to try to find a way to put some cars between us and the leaders to stay on the lead lap,” Hamlin said. “It will be difficult to do that, but we’ll just give it our best shot. I mean, we’re not going to give up.”

Hamlin enters Sunday sixth in the standings, 18 points beneath the provisional elimination line. Sunday’s 500-lap affair determines the four playoff drivers who will vie for the Cup Series title in the Championship 4 on Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway. A win would seal Hamlin’s position in the quartet, and the 43-year-old veteran indicated that would be the most likely avenue to transfer: “Certainly, the chances of getting in on points now are done. We just have to figure out a way to win the race.”

Gabehart told NBC Sports the primary car performed well enough that it’s worth evaluating thoroughly before immediately opting for the backup.

“Most of the (rear) clip looks fine, we think,” he said. “We’re gonna go take a couple measurements here in a minute, and then it would just be replacing some body panels and a bumper and getting back to it. There was a lot of good things about this car. Obviously, it fired off really fast and then was even better yet there. And unfortunately, just swallowed a big clump of rubber and got stuck in between the throttle stop and the throttle lever and hung the throttle.

“It wasn’t anything anybody did wrong. It’s just a freak deal and we’re going to do the best we can to get this fixed.”

Hamlin was on the brink of advancing last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, sitting second behind Ryan Blaney at the drop of the white flag. The automatic spot in the Nov. 10 final at Phoenix, however, went to Tyler Reddick, who bypassed them both in a captivating final lap to reach the Championship 4 for the first time.

Saturday at Martinsville produced a new challenge for the No. 11 team, but Gabehart had worked in the days leading up to Sunday’s 500-lapper to try to keep his team and driver from dwelling on the disappointment.

“What a moment, right? So, most any track on the circuit, you get the lead with five to go, you’re probably going to close it out. Homestead’s not one of those tracks,” Gabehart said in a Thursday morning interview. “That’s why we love it, and so it was a heck of a moment. I and the team were certainly dejected, I mean, to get so close to winning your way in and not. But to be honest with you, that’s what we love about it. That’s why we do it. It was a great moment to be a part of. You don’t always get to be a part of the winning moment. Sometimes you’re in the losing side, but it was a heck of a moment, and we’re all focused on Martinsville and trying to make another one.”

Contributing: Zack Albert in Martinsville, Va.