Chris Gabehart weighs in on Denny Hamlin cal which | Sports News

Joe Gibbs Racing group boss Chris Gabehart has weighed in on the “coin flip” choice that arguably misplaced Denny Hamlin his maiden NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday.

With simply 4 laps remaining and Hamlin in the lead, William Byron blew his entrance proper tire, colliding with the wall from second, bringing out the warning flag in the method. This catastrophe state of affairs for Hamlin threw the race into turmoil as groups switched methods for this last stint, with the No. 11 choosing a full set of recent rubber for the ultimate laps.

However, altering all 4 tires value the 44-year-old dearly, restarting back in tenth behind title rival Kyle Larson in fifth. A late charge by Hamlin up to sixth merely wasn’t enough, because the 60-time race winner completed three spots under Larson, who took the title in the method. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney, who was knocked out of the Playoffs in the Round of 8, took the checkered flag for his fourth win of the season.

After the race, JGR’s director of competitors and Hamlin’s long-time crew chief, Gabehart, informed Frontstretch that the choice to change all 4 tires was merely a flip of the coin in an unpredictable scenario.

“It’s a coin flip. You had cars that stayed out. I for the life of me, can’t understand what you’re thinking when you say out,” he stated. “And no disrespect, I just, with the tire wear the way it was, the championship four race, cars staying out is just something I’ve never even imagined. Let alone the two versus four, because the cars that know they’re not going to win if they don’t do something different. I respect that.

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“So, it’s just a late race situation that you can’t cover all the bases, and that’s what makes our sport unique. It’s not one team versus another team, and you’re only trying to cover the one team. You’ve got 38 other cars out there you’re trying to cover.

“So, when a right front tire blows and brings a caution out in three to go, or a brake rotor blows and brings a caution out in six to go, in our sport, that’s different. And it just shows itself again today. So, Kyle Larson, well no, Ryan Blaney won the race. And Kyle Larson, I don’t know, won whatever else they gave out today.”

Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gayle additionally spoke with Frontstretch, saying he had hoped they might get more racing out of the way in which earlier than an concern equivalent to Byron’s ocurred, including that “even leading up to that five laps to go, you just kind of felt like there was enough tire issues that there could be something happening at any point in time, so we were already prepared for kind of what was going to happen there and kind of work through some scenarios. Just unfortunate that’s how it ends and then you get a restart that happens the way it does.”

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The win proved a considerably bitter notice upon which to finish the Cup Series season, with disappointment for Hamlin clearly widespread each on social media and on pit street, with Larson’s teammate Byron, even apologizing to the veteran post-race for bringing out the warning.

A dejected Hamlin, who led the collection with six race wins this season, even hinted at retiring when talking with reporters, having long been open about the truth that his time in the game is approaching its conclusion.

Making the scenario exponentially more heartbreaking is the truth that Hamlin had beforehand admitted that this could probably be the final alternative his ailing dad, Dennis, must see him win his first championship at his twentieth time of attempting.