Denny Hamlin explains what led to drivers like Martin Truex Jr. running out of gas at Sonoma

Martin Truex Jr. was one of several drivers to run out of gas at the end of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, his car inching along 200 yards shy from the start/finish line.

Truex, running P2 at the time, instead finished as the last car on the lead lap. He quite literally limped along to a 27th-place finish with the help of a cheering crowd in the grandstands. Truex was one of the cars that pitted on Lap 68-of-110, which meant that he’d be cutting it close to the end. For Truex, he was one lap short.

Denny Hamlin pointed out on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast that other factors were at play, such as the pace of the race picking up as the race wore on.

Denny Hamlin adds context to Martin Truex Jr. running out of gas

“It looked like the cars that pitted on Lap 68 — they all were cutting it [close],” Hamlin said. “The fuel window was 40-something, if you add 40 to 68 you get 108, so you come up two [laps] short. It just depends on how hard you run. I was looking at the pace, the pace kept picking up as the race went on. So, that definitely hurt fuel mileage. If you were using fuel mileage from the very first run of the day where the track was maybe a second slower, you’re going to get better fuel mileage than when the track starts picking up speed. The reason you’re picking up speed is you’re on the gas more.

“That’s one of the guessing games these teams have and are looking at how much throttle the driver is using knowing that oh s***, we’re not going to get the fuel mileage we got at the very first run of the day, we need to adjust from there. So, driver I need you to start saving here to make it to the end.”

Martin Truex’s run at Sonoma spoiled by last lap issue

Truex didn’t even know he was cutting it close on fuel, asking his team afterwards why they didn’t alert him that he should’ve been saving. Hamlin said that because Truex didn’t get a clean track until the final stage, he likely didn’t get as accurate a fuel reading as he or his team believed.

“He got clean track for the first time all day,” Hamlin said. “Did he actually even get a good fuel reading throughout the day? So, he didn’t actually have a clean track until that 30-lap window or so at the very end of the race. You still can see how much gas that you’re using. The crew chief can see, and the strategist can see, but again, now you’re kind of making assumptions of how much gas is in the tank. … All you have to be off is a little bit and you don’t leave yourself much room for error.”