NSCS: Denny Hamlin Finishes 11th Following Pit Road Penalty

During the early portion of the race, it seemed as though Denny Hamlin could post a top-10 finish. However, things would go off the rails for Hamlin on lap 109 as he would be penalized for driving through too many boxes. From there on, he was left to fight back, managing to post an 11th place finish.

Reflecting on his night, Hamlin said you can’t have incidents like that if you’re going to run against Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson due to how quick they are. It’s why a lot of focus is being pointed Hamlin’s way right now as this marks the third set of penalties that have hurt the No. 11 FedEx team this year.

Beyond the pit road speeding penalties, though, the bigger problem seems to be the fact that Hamlin hasn’t shown the speed this year, either. Hamlin admitted post-race that they started the year two-tenths off, and they’re still two-tenths off.

However, he does having a saving grace. Hamlin drove an impressive race at Martinsville Speedway, scoring the victory. As a result, he has his ticket for the Chase for the Championship and won’t be spending the next 19 races worrying about his chances.

“If I didn’t have my win, I’m sure I’d be sitting here saying we’ve got to get better,” he commented. “We’ve just got to be patient with it. You’re not going to gain two tenths in a matter of a week. We know those guys are the ones to beat, but it’s going to take six months for us to get there. From ideas to design to on the race track is six months and sometimes it’s year and I’m confident though that by the time we get to the Chase, we’re going to have something that’s capable of running with those guys.”

Hamlin has proven in the past that he can step it up when it counts and contend for the championship – he proved that last season. Though whether he’ll do that again, it’ll just depend on whether he can pull those pieces together come September.