Denny Hamlin 'can't make mistakes' on pit road in Round of 8
Denny Hamlin has been the biggest offender of pit road penalties this year, receiving 19 penalties over the first 32 races of the season.
Not every penalty came at a crucial time or at the fault of the driver in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but several times through the season Hamlin has cost himself spots for going too fast on pit road.
He’s hoping to correct the issue that’s haunted him all season and take a more conservative approach to pitting at Martinsville this weekend.
“If there's one track that we should never push the limit on pit road, it's this one for me,” Hamlin said before qualifying on Friday. “We got to make sure we don't do that.”
Hamlin did exactly that in the spring race at “The Paperclip”, receiving a penalty for exiting pit road too fast.
The addition of more scoring loops on pit road have caused the entire sport to speed more in the pits and with such little room in Martinsville, it makes it even more important to watch your gauges in the pits.
“There's less opportunity to fix a problem (with added timing lines),” Hamlin said. “Anytime you go over pit road speed inside the car, you usually have about five pit boxes to get it back, when you go over by let's call it four lights, then you know you need to be four lights under before five pit boxes. Now that they've added (more lines), to where there’s such small sections there isn't enough room for you to gain that back.
“No doubt, the additions of the timing lines have added for more penalties. It's also kept overall speed on pit road slower which is safer for everyone on pit road.”
The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team have had penalties at three tracks in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but they’ve also been one of the fastest crews all season.
“I study pit road as much as anyone,” Hamlin said. “Going into a weekend, I know the four stalls that I want right away before the weekend even starts to optimize pit road. You have to qualify well to do it and we've qualified good enough that we've gotten the stalls that we wanted.
“With those stalls there's a risk/reward. We've been one of the fastest drivers on pit road, as far as rolling time but we've also been penalized the most. You have to back down a little in these final races where you can't make any mistakes.”
These final four tracks are some of Hamlin’s best and he has 10 wins between Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead.
If there’s one thing Hamlin can do to increase his chances of winning his first Sprint Cup championship, it’s slowing down on pit road a bit and losing two spots instead of 25 for a penalty.
