Denny Hamlin needs a win like a drowning man needs air. He’s at Martinsville—a track where he’s the reigning king with five wins under his belt. And as of Saturday’s practice, he was third fastest. A glimmer of hope, maybe.
But here’s the kicker: the car he’ll race Sunday isn’t exactly showroom-ready. Nope. It’s more like Frankenstein’s monster—his primary car, patched together with a hodgepodge of spare parts, all slapped on in a mad rush.
Halfway through the single 45-minute practice, Hamlin came roaring into Turn 3 when his Toyota’s back end slid out, slamming into the wall. It was a brutal hit, crumpling metal and dealing a nasty blow to his championship dreams. Turns out a rogue chunk of rubber wedged itself in the throttle, leaving Hamlin furious and shouting over the team radio, “The f***ing throttle stuck open!”
The crew? They worked like possessed engineers, stripping off body panels, checking the car down to its bones. Then came the moment of truth in NASCAR’s optical scanner. Miraculously, no major damage to the chassis. So out came the big yellow parts cart from the hauler—spare parts galore—right to the busted-up No. 11 Toyota.
Under the seasoned eye of Todd Berrier, a longtime crew chief now working in the competition department at Joe Gibbs Racing, the team got to work rebuilding the car, piece by piece.
Hamlin’s already 18 points shy of the cutoff. He was in a must-win situation before; now he’s in a “win with a car that’s more stitched-together than complete” situation. Starting at the back won’t help either. Sure, Kurt Busch pulled off a win at Martinsville from 36th back in 2002, but for Hamlin, what was already a mountain to climb just became NASCAR’s version of Mount Everest.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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