April 4, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Despite ongoing challenges behind the scenes, Hamlin finds a way

After seven races, teams are still struggling to come up with sufficient parts and pieces for the new NASCAR Cup car to get ahead of the game.

Entering the Richmond Raceway weekend, Crew chief Chris Gabehart warned his driver Denny Hamlin to go easy on the No. 11 car’s splitter because the team would have to repurpose the piece at Martinsville.

The splitter survived. So did Hamlin, who went on to score his first win of the season and fourth victory at the .75-mile track on Sunday. But the struggle in the Cup garage is real.

“We have to work extreme hours,” Hamlin said. We have to wait on parts. We have legitimate concerns that we won’t have a splitter for Martinsville. ‘Just be gentle.’ But how do you do that and race too? The short supply is causing extended hours and eventually people—I think I saw some stuff on Twitter (Friday)—teams are losing a lot of people just because of workload and eventually it becomes a problem.”

Hamlin holds a deep appreciation for the challenges facing team owners. Since Hamlin started 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan two years ago, he has a better understanding of the current business model.

“You can’t afford to just pay them more—we’re trying to do everything we can to tread water right now,” Hamlin said. “It’s just a tough position that we are in. The supply chain is just not coming through to us as good as it needs to, but we’ve designated one supplier to do all the work and when that one supplier doesn’t get the stuff we need, we are stuck because we told everyone else to pound sand.

“It’s just a tough spot to be in right now and the teams don’t know what else to do. It’s tough to retain your workforce right now and all of the teams are losing people.”

Yet on Sunday, Hamlin and Gabehart found a way to persevere. The 41-year-old racer also became the seventh different winner of the season—reinforcing the aim of creating parity with the new vehicle.

Joe Gibbs Racing also introduced its new pit stop choreography for the car. The No. 18 crew executed a record-breaking 9.19-second four-tire stop for Kyle Busch during the second stage. Hamlin’s team set personal best records in the pits during the final stage with 9.3 and 9.4-second pitstops which most certainly factored into his win. For the first time in 2022, all Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas finished in the top10.

Regardless of the ongoing struggles with the cars and crews, when the checkered flag flew the race came down to good ol’ strategy plain and simple.

“Nerves of steel and a lot of ignorance, that’s all it takes,” Gabehart told spotter Chris Lambert after the win.

Earlier in the race, Gabehart apologized to Hamlin. He admitted to taking a conservative approach in an effort to save tires for the finish. No, Hamlin wasn’t a factor in the first two stages. And he was well aware that Martin Truex Jr. had by far the fastest car in the JGR stable.

With no cautions over the final 137 laps, tire management couldn’t save William Byron, Truex or Kyle Larson when Hamlin pitted with 45 laps to go. Byron last pitted on Lap 310. Truex and Larson’s final stops came on Lap 323. Hamlin pitted on Lap 354. Cliff Daniels, Larson’s crew chief, was convinced Hamlin couldn’t catch the No. 5 Chevy. But Hamlin was more worried about Kevin Harvick catching him on fresh tires than the three sitting ducks ahead of him.

Hamlin passed Larson with 11 to go. He knocked off Truex five laps later, then set his sights on the No. 24 and passed him with ease. After the race, it was Truex’s crew chief who offered the final apology.

“I’m sorry,” James Small told Truex. “We (screwed) up, ok?”

Gabehart insists the new car is still a moving target. With no notes to rely on, continued part and personnel shortages, and very little practice at the track, teams are feeling the strain. But with the entertainment factor at an all-time high, let's just sit back and enjoy the ride.