Denny Hamlin admits to pit crew 'slump' amid NASCAR Playoff woes

These NASCAR Playoffs have not gone according to plan for Denny Hamlin. His pit crew hasn’t helped much, either. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is not afraid to challenge his crew.

When it comes to this time of the year, every pit stop matters as much as every lap on the track. Getting on and off pit road clean and quickly is a must. Lately, that hasn’t been happening for Denny Hamlin.

Last week was another example. Hamlin had issues getting his marks on the pit box and his crew had issues getting his wheels tight. It cost him time and spot on the track.

“Yeah, you ride with the group you got. I think that they’re certainly not, they’re in a slump for sure, but we’ve got to ride it out and feel like that’s the best group that we can put on pit road,” Hamlin told the media in Homestead-Miami today. “Certainly, it’s not due to talent or anything like that, they’ve got all the keys they need for that.

“They were the best pit crew for the first quarter this year, but certainly, it’s just been a lot of different issues on pit road. Pretty much, most times we’ve come down it’s been different things. So, you can’t really point to one consistent problem that we have. So, we just gotta see where it goes.”

Denny Hamlin on his pit crew: “They’re in a slump for sure, but we’ve got to ride it out and feel like that is the best group that we can put on pit road. Certainly, it’s not due to talent.” pic.twitter.com/ElqzQjKjxd

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 26, 2024

This weekend at Homestead-Miami, Denny Hamlin has to step it up. He is -27 to the cutline and that is a lot of points to make up in the Round of 8. These are the best drivers in the Cup Series this season, nothing will be given.

Denny Hamlin lands solid starting spot for Homestead

Good news for Denny Hamlin, he has a great starting spot for Sunday. Toyota was strong in the qualifying session today at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick ultimately won the pole.

Hamlin found himself P4 after the second round of qualifying. Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., and Bubba Wallace are also in the top-10 to start tomorrow, showing that Toyota strength on 1.5-mile tracks.

This season has been a tale of two halves for Hamlin. He started out so strong, so good on short tracks. His intermediate track speed and dominance has been taken away a bit this season. Other teams have picked up the pace on these tracks.

However, in the NASCAR Playoffs, one race is all it takes. Denny Hamlin and his pit crew have had issues this season. But there is a chance that they hit on all cylinders tomorrow and walk away with a win and a trip to the Championship 4.