Denny Hamlin Weighs in on Tire Penalties’ Potential Effect on Playoff Run

What’s Happening?

Prior to the announcement of yesterday’s pit crew suspensions, Denny Hamlin spoke about how he will handle suspensions in the second Round of the playoffs during an episode of his podcast Action’s Detremental.

Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 team will be without two crew members for the first race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 12 after NASCAR levied suspensions after losing a tire at Bristol.

Despite speculation from fans about the nature of the tire loss, the suspensions of tire changer Austin Maloney and jackman Joel Bouagnon were expected, something Hamlin spoke about during Monday’s episode of Action’s Detremental.

Hamlin approached the subject in a rather aloof fashion, saying that if and when NASCAR suspended crew members, he didn’t know who the team had ready to take over, nor was this his problem to focus on. “I have no idea who’s sitting on the bench, who’s ready, and it’s not even my concern,” Hamlin said.

Though this wasn’t for a lack of caring, rather, Hamlin clarified that it is the responsibility of his Crew Chief, Chris Gayle, and that he needs to focus on his bid for his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

“My concern needs to be on the things that I can control. . . ‘Are they young? Are they old? Are they good? Are they bad?’ You’re just wasting mind energy at that point. So it’s not my concern because I just feel as though that’s someone else’s department to be concerned over, I’m gonna do my job to the best of my ability, and we’ll try to win with whoever we got.” — Denny Hamlin

Hamlin addressed any concerns by asserting that Joe Gibbs Racing has substantial depth with its pit crews, but he does not know where the replacements will come from.

For Hamlin, who sits well above the cutline in first entering the Round of 12, he assumes that JGR will sort it out and find “comfortable” replacements for the next two races, though, once again, the 44-year-old reiterates, “that’s not a decision for me, it’s a decision for them.”

“I’m going to assume that if they [JGR] have two guys that are very, very good, that they’re comfortable with, they’re gonna put them on my car,” Hamlin said. “If they happen to be on someone else’s team, then they happen to be on someone else’s team that is not racing for a championship.”

Hamlin’s First Bump in the Road

Last weekend was by no means perfect for the No. 11 team after winning the week prior at WWT Raceway. Alongside two pit road penalties, including a commitment line violation, Hamlin was parked for two laps after losing his tire on lap 384, ultimately bringing home the No. 11 in 31st.

Looking to the next two races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, JGR has yet to announce where the replacement crew members will come from.

Of course, beyond their four teams in the NASCAR Cup Series, JGR also leases teams to Front Row Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing, and if the team wanted to stay as close to in-house cars as possible, they could even pull from Ty Gibbs’ crew, as the No. 54 is the only JGR car not in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Nonetheless, the No. 11 enters this round of the playoffs in first, 26 points above the cutline.

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