Denny Hamlin thought too much at Atlanta, tried to ride in the back to earn the target points he wanted to earn in the playoff-opening race, he fell short and it nearly cost him in the first round.
Then he apparently wasn’t as in it as mentally as he could have been three weeks later to start the second round as his pit crew’s woes got under his skin Sunday afternoon.
In other words, Denny Hamlin was … Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin’s crew had an awful afternoon Sunday in Kansas, forcing Hamlin to try to rally three times during the race. He ended up eighth.
Afterward, Hamlin was asked how he remained in it mentally. He admitted that it was difficult, that he wasn’t in it mentally.
“I’m not in it mentally, I can tell you that,” Hamlin said in response to the question. “There are lots of wires crossed and bolts loose at the moment. But what can you do? I’ll just do the best I can to drive the car.”
The comments caused a stir. Was Hamlin being too honest? Probably. He delivered the comments in more of a matter-of-fact manner rather than something he was all that worried about. And it’s pretty clear he isn’t thinking in the moment about the public reaction.
He admitted he got flustered. He didn’t lash out at his pit crew in a personal way and appeared to still race as well as he could.
If he had earned spots on pit road, would people expect him to be pumped up? Wouldn’t that be a boost? For sure. So why should anyone feel surprised that he was frustrated?
Hamlin didn’t appear to make some wild mistake because he wasn’t mentally in it. It didn’t appear that the mentality kept him from rallying to get all the spots he could.
For a driver who is consistently strong, this format can ruin a season where he has run well. The three-race round favors those who get a little bit of luck and/or racing at a few of their better tracks. It doesn’t reward consistent strength. It rewards getting hot at the right time.
And it’s not just the driver who has to be on a hot streak. The pit crew, too.
Now you could argue that this system also requires a driver to overcome adversity, that with the pressure of this format, it creates those moments that lead to a driver walking the tightrope of performance and becoming unhinged.
In the first round, Hamlin stayed on the side of performance. He needed to come back from below the cutline prior to the elimination race at Bristol to advance a couple of weeks ago. He performed under that pressure.
Hamlin’s history is that he runs well even amid a little bit of chaos (and the chaos increased Wednesday morning with his 23XI Racing team filing suit against NASCAR). His history a little more than a decade ago was that he couldn’t handle it mentally, that he was beat in the 2010 championship race at Homestead after pit strategy failed him the prior week.
But what has allowed Hamlin to win 54 races in his career? His intensity and his swagger, the mentality that he will do his best to beat the odds of winning when he has the best car (he says the driver with the best car wins 35 percent of the time).
So should his fans be worried about his mentality? No. Just have fun riding the wave.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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