Dale Earnhardt Jr. has voiced his confusion over Denny Hamlin’s unconventional and cautious strategy during the recent NASCAR race at Atlanta. Deviating from his usual approach of patiently hanging back and making a late charge, Hamlin’s tactics this time appeared ineffective and ultimately led to a wreck on the final lap.
Discussing the race on his well-regarded podcast, Dale Jr. Download, he dissected Hamlin’s race performance in detail.
“Well, again, this will all be a nothing burger if he advances. But that was not, that was out of character for Denny. A guy that’s like… it was just out of character I don’t know how else to say it,” he said.
For those familiar with Hamlin’s style, this shift was indeed unexpected. Typically, Hamlin bides his time at the back during superspeedway races, only making his move when he senses the moment is right.
Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, and Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 01, 2024 in Darlington, South Carolina. Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his surprise at Denny Hamlin’s unusual strategy in Atlanta, questioning the move that led to Hamlin’s final-lap wreck.
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
However, in Atlanta, Hamlin managed to inch up to nearly 20th place but then chose to back off once more, betting on a potential crash that would shake up the field.
Atlanta’s narrower track compared to behemoths like Daytona or Talladega contributed to his lack of movement up the pack.
“It’s harder for that strategy to work at Atlanta because the track width,” Earnhardt Jr. explained. “At a place like Daytona, Talladega, where you would use that same style maybe, you’ve got more room to kind of make your way forward and it was the logjam that made it, you know, he’s sitting there going ‘I’ve tried this strategy before, it is what it is, I had a bad qualifying, I’m not going to be in a hurry. Hopefully, there’s a lot of attrition.’
“There wasn’t. That didn’t work in his favor.”
Compounding Hamlin’s issues, the expected “big one” crash that usually thins out the leaders didn’t happen. There was a moment, involving Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe at the conclusion of Stage 1, but this wasn’t enough to disrupt the field as much as Hamlin had hoped.
This left the Florida driver in a passive position throughout much of the race, waiting for an opportunity that never arrived.
“He never went on the attack. It was like he wasn’t going to make that move until the big crash happened, right? He was going to hope that the crash took a lot of people out of this race and making that 20 points more attainable.
“So, I don’t know man, I was a little surprised by it, I think he will probably still advance. If he doesn’t, then this is a bigger story,” Earnhardt Jr. added.
Hamlin’s gamble finally culminated in his own wreck during the overtime in turn four,
“So, look, they didn’t have the attrition and the crashes that Denny was anticipating, of course, the one they have he’s in it off turn four.
“When he’s sitting back there with 40 to go and you’re watching the race and how the race has been going and how I guess, when you’re watching the pack and how the pack has been behaving, you’re thinking, ‘I don’t know how in the hell he thinks he’s going to drive up through this,'” Earnhardt Jr. finished.
