Good Monday morning and thank you for starting your week with another edition of the Monday Morning Pit Box following the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. In MMPB, we break down the previous NASCAR Cup Series race from the crew chief’s perspective and analyze race-changing pit stops, pit stops and pit road penalties.
At Talladega, it is critical that groups of drivers enter pit road cleanly, plan their pit stops properly, and exit together to stay in the slipstream and get back up to speed as quickly as possible. For this reason, the pit strategy followed a similar pattern throughout Sunday’s race. When the light turned green, the cars came down the pit lane in groups, usually sorted by manufacturer, just to fill up with fuel. At the end of each stage everyone parked the vehicle in their pits for four tires and fuel on a race track where fresh rubber is not that important.
Although fuel economy was a constant theme, it played a role in the conclusion of the race, as the accident on the front straight on lap 163 allowed everyone to pit under yellow and continue on enough fuel to the end.
Denny Hamlin recovers from a speeding ticket
Denny Hamlin came to Talladega with a comfortable 35-point lead over the playoff cutoff line. However, on lap 105, Hamlin was caught speeding on pit road. To make matters worse, it happened under green flag conditions, forcing Hamlin to incur a pass-through penalty and one lap down. Hamlin fought to get the free pass at the end of the second period, but it went to Carson Hocevar instead.
For a moment, it looked like Hamlin would leave Talladega too close to the cut line for comfort. But Hamlin was given a free pass with a caution on lap 163 and began his rally through the field. Hamlin took the checkered flag in third place and will now face Charlotte Roval 50 points above the cutline, a spot in the Round of 8 all but assured.
“It was difficult,” Hamlin told NBC Sports after the race about trying to recover from the speeding penalty. “I didn’t want to set us back with this penalty, but I’m proud of our efforts to get back into the top five.”
My goodness, big ball of fire
Hamlin’s speeding penalty wasn’t the only disaster Joe Gibbs Racing faced on pit road Sunday. During the pit stops after the second stage, Ty Gibbs took a gas can from his pit box.
The fuel then came loose from the No. 54 Toyota and caused a major fire in the middle of the pit lane. Although it was a scary scene, nearby security forces extinguished the fire without further incident. As for Gibbs, he went to the back of the field to remove equipment and got into the accident on lap 163, leaving him in 34th place.
Other pit road issues
- During his first pit stop on lap 40, Erik Jones’ pit crew crashed over the wall too early, resulting in a drive-through penalty for the No. 43 team. Jones finished 26th on the lead lap.
- On lap 106, Austin Cindric was driving too fast in the pit lane, which left him one lap behind after a drive-through penalty. Like Hamlin, Cindric also collected a good result and crossed the finish line in fifth place.
Look forward to next week
The Round of 12 in the Cup Series playoffs concludes next Sunday, October 8th with the Bank of America ROVAL 400. With four teams facing elimination, expect some “Hail Mary” strategy calls from crew chiefs Figures to Try Their driver was ahead and secured a walk-off win. The return of stage warnings for next week’s road race should also have a significant impact on strategy.
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