Denny Hamlin shed light on what exactly caused his costly mistake during NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the Brickyard 400.
On Thursday, Hamlin - who recently made a final decision on his future with Joe Gibbs Racing after winning last week's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 - suffered a big hit on his qualifying lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
While pushing his car to the limit, Hamlin slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 and damaged his right rear toe-link - causing the No. 11 Toyota to spin out at the entry of the backstretch and slam hard into the inside wall.
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Hamlin was over two-tenths of a second faster than the pole time before the scary collision, but will now have to race on Sunday from P39 driving a backup car. On social media, he revealed what went wrong by bluntly writing: "Over send."
Speaking to reporters moments after being released from the infield care center, Hamlin admitted that he had little time to react before realizing something was about to go wrong. "I saw that other guys had issues there and the wind picked up, which made for some pretty tight conditions off of Turn 2," he explained. "And so if you're not pointing correctly, it's not going to turn. I wasn't pointing correctly."
Given the fact that he crashed out in the early stages of qualifying, Hamlin admitted that he was unable to get a firm understanding of how his car was performing. "Yeah, I don't know. It bounces okay," Hamlin noted. "I didn't get a couple of corners on it. The car was great in practice. Obviously, we'll just have to fix the backup."
Hamlin has achieved no lack of success this season , accumulating 11 top-10 finishes, 10 top-5s and four race wins over 20 events. Looking ahead to the Brickyard 400, however, the 44-year-old expressed little confidence that he would be able to dig himself out of the hole he had dug.
Just try to do the best I can," Hamlin said about his mindset. "There's nothing I can do to change the outcome for tomorrow. Just give it the best I can, try to get all the points I can. Stage points are probably nearly impossible from where we're starting. We just have to try to get the best finish.
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All hope is not lost for Hamlin considering the fact that Ross Chastain emerged victorious in this year's Coca-Cola 600 despite starting in last place at Charlotte Motor Speedway - thereby becoming the first driver to win the event after beginning at the back of the field.
Upon being reminded of Chastian's heroics, Hamlin asserted that the situation he currently finds himself in is far different. "Apples and oranges," Hamlin said. "Two different tracks. A lot more passing at Charlotte than this track. A lot of different distance. Obviously, we'll have to have some big breaks go our way."
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