MARTINSVILLE, Va. – As Denny Hamlin describes, if there is a one in 100,000 chance of having something go wrong, he will experience it.
Approaching the halfway mark of Saturday’s practice session for Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, the throttle hung on the No. 11 Toyota and Hamlin backed into the wall.
“That caught me off guard,” Hamlin said. “It happens; just got unlucky.”
While debriefing what had happened, the No. 11 team sent Hamlin a photo. It was discovered that a large chunk of rubber was stuck in the throttle body.
Hamlin had never experienced a hung throttle prior to the practice session. The No. 11 car ranked third on single-lap speed and second on 10-lap averages. The longer the run went, the better his car got.
With significant right-rear damage, the No. 11 team wasn’t able to post a qualifying lap. The good news for the No. 11 team, though, is after running the primary car through inspection, the measurements were good enough to let the Joe Gibbs Racing crew be comfortable with repairing the primary car and not go to the backup. The No. 11 team needed to bolt on a new rear clip and run it back through the inspection process.
Hamlin enters the race sixth on the Playoff grid, 18 points below the elimination line.
“Our battle is going to be very much uphill,” Hamlin added. “The chances of getting in on points now are done. We just have to figure out a way to win the race.”
The first goal for the No. 11 team come race day will be to remain on the lead lap for the first couple runs of the race. The leaders will be setting quick laps early while Hamlin manages traffic, trying to put a buffer between himself and the leaders.
There is room for optimism for Hamlin. Goodyear brought a softer tire compound to Martinsville, creating more tire wear throughout the field. Hamlin experienced the tire wear and believes it gives his team a chance to move forward.
“That is the good news is I thought the tire was an improvement from what we’ve had here in the past,” he said. “It certainly had what I thought was probably twice the fall off that we had with the previous tire. If the race goes long enough and green enough, you could make some spots up if your car is handling well.”
Hamlin is among the best in the field at Martinsville, leading north of 100 laps in the last three Playoff races at the half-mile track. He leads active drivers with five triumphs.