Joe Gibbs Racing unveils new Denny Hamlin paint scheme for Pocono with historic meaning
Joe Gibbs Racing unveiled Tuesday the paint scheme for Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Mavis Tires Toyota for this Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway.
The matte black base and glossy teal accents commemorate Hamlin’s historic win with Mavis at Pocono last July.
Hamlin will look to drive the car to Victory Lane at the Tricky Triangle, something he’s done numerous times during his near two-decade NASCAR Cup Series career. In 34 starts at Pocono, Hamlin has tallied seven wins and 22 top 10s. Hamlin holds the Cup Series record for the most wins at Pocono.
A three-time winner this season, Hamlin is currently riding a cold streak dating back to Sonoma last month. Hamlin has finished outside the top-10 in each of the last five races, including a P30 finish in this past Sunday’s Chicago Street Race. Hamlin finished inside the top-five in the previous five races before the skid.
Denny Hamlin heading into Pocono as one of the favorites
Hamlin admitted on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast that the Chicago Street Race, especially on wet-weather tires, was “way out of my element.”
“It’s way out of my element,” Hamlin said. “I can’t find the limit on corner breaking, on entry. The minute I tried to push it is when you saw me turn around backwards in Turn 6 and took — nearly just wiped the No. 47 [Ricky Stenhouse Jr.] just clean out. I looked at his car after we got done, after we got back straight again, and the left side of his bumper was bent down like, three inches or something.
“It was big, and I’m like, ‘Oh God, just crushed his race.’ He just talked to me in my — I was in my car, during one of the rain delays, well the biggest rain delay — kind of in the middle of the race there. He was like, ‘So, these conditions, where do you break? On-line, off-line?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know,’ and then he texted me after the race and said, ‘I guess you should’ve braked off-line.’ So, I’m glad he got a good finish, and I didn’t completely ruin the No. 47’s day. But it all worked out in the end.”
But with Pocono and Indianapolis on the horizon, Hamlin is ready to get back on track.
“Going to Pocono, there’s no wet-weather tires at Pocono, and there’s no wet weather tires coming at Indy,” Hamlin said. These next two weeks, it’s on.”