The Joe Gibbs Racing 4-team contingent came into Sonoma hoping for a good showing. It didn’t turn out that way.
The trouble started early for Denny Hamlin. On lap 2 the engine of his Toyota expired exiting Turn 11. He was done for the day ending a five-race top five finishes streak. Hamlin said he had no indication there were any engine issues.
“Nothing,” Hamlin said. “It’s just the gearing is a little weird for the track. It’s a lot of high-end RPM stuff, but the same as everyone else and I’m just not really sure. They’ll look at it and figure it out, but certainly not ideal.”
The DNF is his third on the last three of NASCAR’s road courses. Hamlin crashed out of the ROVAL in 2023, and also crashed out on the opening laps of this race last year after winning the pole.’
Last year’s winner of that race, Martin Truex Jr., who struggled all weekend on the newly repaved track, was 18th when he was spun on lap coming out of Turn 2 after contact with Will Brown.
The third JGR driver Ty Gibbs, was running 10th when on lap 15 he made contact with the new concrete wall at Turn 11. He slowed on the front stretch and brought out the caution. Gibbs was forced to the garage and scored just ahead of Hamlin.
“I was finding grip down there and was making up time,” Gibbs said. “Then got too close and clipped the wall and hurt the right front.”
On lap 36 Christopher Bell and Truex were both caught up in a spin by Josh Berry who was sent into the wall entering Turn 11 after contact from Erik Jones. Though neither car suffered significant damage they were slowed as the track cleared.
Truex would recover to finish 4th in Stage 2, and has the laps wound down was in contention for the win. Truex took the lead with 9 laps to go but only held it briefly. Kyle Larson, who had pitted 13 laps earlier than Truex was able to charge by at Turn 4.
As Larson took the white flag Truex looked to be in a position to comfortably bring home a runner-up finish. But towards the end of the final lap, Truex ran out of fuel. He was forced to use the starter motor on his Toyota to bump the car across the finish line settling for 27th place, the final car on the lead lap. Larson would go on to win the race.
“It’s a shame that we went around the last corner and went from second to wherever we finished,” Truex said. “It sucks, but it was a tough day, and we had a good car. We battled and did a good job. We were going to have a good day, but just one corner short.”
“It was a tough day,” Truex said. “Got spun out early and had to work hard to get some track position back. James (Small, crew chief) did a good job on our strategy. Our car was pretty good out front. Thought we were going to have a shot to win there and just couldn’t quite get by the 17 (Chris Buescher) quick enough. I finally cleared him; I made a mistake and the 5 (Kyle Larson) was right there to pounce and then obviously ran out of gas so it didn’t matter. I’m not sure why we didn’t try to save a little at the end. I was clearly not going to catch the 5 or pass him. It’s a shame that we went around the last corner and went from second to wherever we finished. It sucks, but it was a tough day, and we had a good car. We battled and did a good job. We were going to have a good day, but just one corner short.”
In the end Bell was the lone survivor for the JGR crew coming home with a quiet 9th place finish.
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.