Chris Gabehart 'didn't expect' Denny Hamlin to be so conservative in Atlanta playoff race

Last week in Atlanta, Denny Hamlin raced like a driver scared of racing. He hung out in the back the whole time and still got wrecked. It was a head-scratching decision that had NASCAR fans wondering what got into the veteran driver.

Crew chief Chris Gabehart as surprisingly admitted that he wasn’t necessarily on the same page as Denny Hamlin last week. They were both fine with being conservative to start the race.

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Then the laps ticked by. Stages went by. Hamlin kept riding around 25th to 30th or worse. It was perplexing to watch.

Gabehart went on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to talk about the failed conservative strategy.

“Certainly the start of the race we were both on the same page with Atlanta has proven to be volatile early on,” the crew chief said of his prerace plan with Denny Hamlin. “We had a wreck a couple of laps into the spring race that took out a lot of cars. With starting last, if we tried to run up through there pretty quick there’s a good chance we could have been in that wreck had it happened. So, we were both on the same page with let’s lay back for a couple of laps, make sure that everybody understands what their car has and you don’t have any early race mistakes that could take us out as a bystander.

“I didn’t expect the rest of it to be as conservative as it was on his behalf, and we didn’t plan that together. I wish we would have changed our, I wish we would have. Had I known that was more of an issue in his head, I would have done my best to talk through the scenario ahead of time with him.

“But having said that in the heat of the moment, Atlanta, more so than Talladega and Daytona is a game full of 51-49s. There’s no 60-40s, there’s no 70-30s, there’s no 80-20s, you’re either gonna kind of be in it or you’re not at any given second, and in the heat of the battle, what I could do was support my driver and his decision based on what he saw and felt in the moment, while telling him several times throughout the race, ‘At some point, we’re going to have to get through that hornet’s nest.’ So, that’s the decision I chose to make in terms of supporting him and what he felt like he needed to do at the time.”

A crew chief and driver have to be on the same page. For whatever reason, Denny Hamlin was skittish. In the past, he has hung out in the back at Daytona or Talladega early. We have never seen him refuse to make a move like he did last Sunday.

For all of his hard work on avoiding wrecks, Hamlin had no stage points. Hamlin wrecked on the last lap anyway and walked away with P24. The worst part for this team, they are only two points above the cutline with two big races coming up. Watkins Glen and Bristol are solid tracks for Hamlin, but he has to perform.

Will Denny Hamlin be on the same page with his crew chief?