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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin concedes that his quest to make the Championship 4 “got infinitely harder but it’s not impossible” after his crash in practice Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
Hamlin, who is 18 points below the cutline entering Sunday’s Round of 8 elimination race, had one of the fastest cars before his incident in practice.
Hamlin crashed in Turn 3, backing into the wall.
“The car didn’t slow down,” Hamlin told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “The throttle hung on me and apparently (crew chief Chris Gabehart) sent me a picture and there’s a huge chunk of rubber that’s in the throttle body that hung wide open.”
The team determined it could repair the rear of the car instead of going to a backup. Still, Hamlin will have to start at the back of the field after not making a qualifying attempt Saturday. He also will have the last pick of pit stalls.
Denny Hamlin crashes in NASCAR Cup practice at Martinsville, will not make qualifying attempt
Denny Hamlin will start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s Round of 8 elimination race.
Gabehart explained to Burns why the team wanted to repair the car: “There was a lot of good things about this car, obviously. It fired off real fast and then was even better yet.”
Hamlin was fastest in practice at the time of the crash. The session ended with Hamlin’s car third on the speed chart.
Two spots remain in the Championship 4 after Joey Logano claimed a spot with his victory at Las Vegas two weeks ago and Tyler Reddick secured a spot with his win at Homestead last week.
Christopher Bell is 29 points above the cutline. William Byron holds the final transfer spot. He’s seven points above the cutline but said Saturday that he felt he has to win to make the title race because of those he’s racing. Byron has won two of the last five Cup races at Martinsville.
Kyle Larson is the first driver out of a transfer spot. He’s seven points below the cutline. Then comes Hamlin at -18, followed by Ryan Blaney (-38 points below the cutline) and Chase Elliott (-43). Larson, Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott are all former winners at this track. Blaney won last year’s playoff race.
Hamlin seeks to return to the Championship 4 for the first time since 2021. But this has been a challenging playoffs for him.
Among the numerous issues he and his team have gone through:
He had spark plug issues during qualifying in the opener at Atlanta and started at the rear. He struggled in the race and was collected in a last-lap crash.
The following week at Watkins Glen, he spun in practice and was involved in a crash on the opening lap. He continued and was involved in a crash later in the race.
In the second round at Kansas, pit road woes cost him several spots. He was collected in a crash the next week at Talladega.
In the Round of 8 at Las Vegas, he had a slow pit stop, his car was damaged in an incident, strategy backfired and another slow stop dropped him back in the field.
Then came the crash Saturday at Martinsville.
“We drew the unlucky straw,” Hamlin said. “It’s been the story for 20 years. So disappointing considering the preparation the team puts into bringing me a fast car. I hate this for the team.”
No driver has won from beyond beyond a top-20 starting spot since Dale Earnhardt Jr. won in October 2014 when he started 23rd. The deepest a Martinsville winner has ever started is 36th by Kurt Busch in October 2002.
Asked if he can come back from the rear to win, Hamlin said: “I hope so. I think if the car has got the ability to maneuver like this one did, then you got a chance. The unfortunate part is we don’t get to pick a pit stall (because they will have last choice). We’re probably going to be right in the middle, in a terrible spot on pit road. Track position is key here.”
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