Following a viral photo of Denny Hamlin’s hauler stuck on the side of the road, the No. 11 team’s hauler driver took to social media to clear the air on what happened on his way to this weekend’s race.
On Thursday afternoon, a photo showing Denny Hamlin’s hauler beached on a small road during a rural stretch of its drive to this weekend’s race at Chicagoland Speedway went viral in the NASCAR community.
At the time, there was no clear answer as to exactly what happened to the hauler, with guesses ranging from a blown tire to a breakdown or worse.
Friday afternoon, the NASCAR community finally got the answer it was looking for, as hauler driver Frank Hodel took to his Instagram to share the story of what happened.
Per Hodel’s report, he rolled up on a portion of his route with a five-ton weight limit in an attempt to avoid the weight-restricted area. The driver says he turned down the road seen in the picture on social media, but did not see a ditch buried in tall grass.
“The road I turned right on to avoid the restriction, was a small county road. I knew I had to go through the corner of the field with my trailer. What I didn’t see was there was a ditch beneath the tall grass. I made the decision to call a wrecker to get out.”
While he admitted in his account that the story was a “hard one to post,” per those at the track, the No. 11 team is still in good shape for this weekend’s race, good news as Hodel pointed out in his post that the moment “Could have been much worse.”
While this was a snag in Hamlin’s weekend, it’s in the review mirror, with all eyes focused on the No. 11 team with the weekend at Chicagoland.
As of right now, Hamlin is riding a three-race winning streak on ovals, having won Nashville, Michigan, and Pocono prior to the summer West Coast swing.
Despite a hot start from his own driver, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, and some not-so-highlight-worthy road course outings, Hamlin finds himself sitting on top of the standings by one point, making him only the third driver to lead points this season.
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