Denny Hamlin shares his verdict on his 5th place finish in the Iowa Speedway

Denny Hamlin had little confidence heading into Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350. Brake problems plagued his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota throughout the weekend and unapproved adjustments forced him to start at the rear of the field. Hamlin still fought through the problems to finish fifth at Iowa Speedway.

The problems started during the practice session after Hamlin’s brake pedal repeatedly went to the floor. The issue returned during the race. By Lap 34, the No. 11 Toyota was still reporting brake trouble over the radio.

Hamlin summed up his exhausting afternoon over the team radio after taking the checkered flag.

“Unbelievable work, that may be my best drive ever,” Denny Hamlin said over the radio.

Hamlin suffered from brake shake at the 0.875-mile short track. Teams can choose different brake pad brands and compounds but NASCAR does not let teams replace their brake pads during the race weekend before the race starts. This meant the teams had to go with their brake choices until the race began.

Ryan Blaney won the opening stage from the pole and Christopher Bell took Stage 2. Hamlin finished the second stage in the top-10 and moved into the top five during the final stage.

“I switched my goals to needing some cars to wreck” – Denny Hamlin says he would have been happy with a top-25 at Iowa

Denny Hamlin, who crossed the finish line at Iowa in fifth place, said the result was better than he had hoped for. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe also battled brake issues but still managed to finish sixth.

“If I would have known it was going to be like this the whole race, I would have said top 25. Honestly, I would have been happy with it. But they kept working on the car and made adjustments around not having any brakes,” he said.

“I knew there was a chance it could be fixed but I knew it was still the same components that couldn’t be fixed so I just felt down. I switched my goals to needing some cars to wreck and maybe I get a top 25.”

Ty Gibbs won the race after taking two tires during the final pit stop. Bell finished second and Blaney third.

Meanwhile, Hamlin increased his lead to 103 points after the Iowa race. He now sits first with Ty Gibbs in second, followed by Blaney. Tyler Reddick has dropped to fourth after retiring early from the race.