Hamlin furious with his crew after Darlington
Quote selected text Published May 14th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Joe Gibbs Racing officials met Monday to discuss personnel changes after a pit road mishap cost Denny Hamlin a victory at Darlington Raceway.
Hamlin was critical of his crew after a pair of dropped lug nuts during a late pit stop cost him the race. Hamlin, who led a race-high 179 laps, was in second when he went into the pits but plummeted to 16th after the error.
Although he rallied to finish second, he was furious after Sunday’s race.
“If we lose by 20-30 points when it comes down to the championship, we know exactly where we lost it, and that’s on pit road,” said Hamlin, who could have won three or four races this season if not for mechanical problems or mistakes on pit road.
“I gave away Phoenix, that’s my fault. But there’s two to three other races that we had the best car most all day, and even at the end, and just gave it away on pit road. Today was a prime example of that.”
The team met Monday to see if any changes should be made to a crew that helped Hamlin to two victories and a third-place finish in the Chase for the championship during last year’s rookie season.
“It’s a lot like football, pretty cut and dry: You either get it done or get replaced,” said team president J.D. Gibbs, son of Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, the race team owner.
“The thing we’ve kind of noticed is that it’s not one person, though. It’s inconsistency across the board and it has to get better.”
- Hamlin not happy over non-caution at Darlington finish
- Hamlin crew chief makes pit crew changes
- Darlington could get new track surface
- Repaving begins at Darlington
- Goodyear to tire test at Darlington
A football team wont do anything without a quarter back they believe in or quarter back who believes in them. Denny and Gibbs better watch what they say about their team even if they are going to “cut” some. Talk like that never does anyone any good. Cut em and shut up about it. Sometimes I wonder how some of these people got to run these teams in the first place. Oh, yeah…
The way you treat your employees and co-workers might just cause as much harm as a win does you good. Regardless of how much they care about performace, Denny and Gibbs should be a little more tactful in what they say.
This team got Denny two victories and a third-place finish in the Chase during his rookie season. Denny sure is quick to give up on his boys.
well, at least now were addressing the REAL issues.
You would too if you’ve had the car to beat in half the races and still haven’t WON!
i think he is forgetting that he was a ROOKIE last year. pompous drivers drive me nuts. he will make many, many, many more mistakes on his own that won’t be his crew’s fault. man, i wish more of them were like martin.
SOUNDS LIKE TO ME HE’S BEING AN CRY BABY!GO JEFF!!
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAA…….I LIKED HIM UNTIL THIS….IT IS A TEAM, NOT A DRIVER A PIT CREW A CREW CHIEF…….IF THEY LOSE A RACE IT IS A TEAM EFFORT, THE SAME IF THEY WIN ONE, IT IS A TEAM EFFORT….DENNY IS A GREAT DRIVER AND I KNOW THE REST OF THE TEAM GIVE IT THEIR ALL….IF HE STARTS TO BLAME THE PIT CREW AND ALIENATES THEM, HE WILL LOSE BIG IN THE LONG RUN…..
When I worked on a crew, believe me, we knew when we screwed up and what our job was. Denny just needs NOT to air his dirty laundry and keep his comments in-house. The crew knows what is expected.
Your a good racer but you dont know when to shut up when you finished 2 at the most hardest track nascar has. you have a lot to learn and not to say the Jeff gordon is a lot better racer then you will ever be. oh and get a new name it sucks just to let you know bye bye
[Comment edited] did you not see the race, he entered the
pits, the tire changer then drop 1 lug nut not once but 2 or 3
times. He came out 16th, in the pit’s if you come in 2nd, and leave
16th, it’s no bodys fault except the crew. You gotta give him is
props, with less than 20 laps to go, he pulled his car from 16th to
2nd, and coudl have caught gordon if he had 3 more laps to go, i
dont see how gordons car didnt blow, his water temp was over 320
Wow intelligence just pours from some Gordon fans now a days. Feel privileged boys and girls we have a certified genius in this post, who brings nothing relevant to this post.
Also I think it was a bad decision to bring this up in the public eye, but maybe JD and Denny thought this would be a way to motivate the crew.
dam u guys are weird. A driver is mad because someting out of his hands cost him the race. cant he complain a little without being called a cry baby……i mean really. let him vent his frustration and stop calling all the drivers cry babies when they are mad…….look at yourselves,how often do you complain? you guys probrably complain more than all 43 drivers combined. If your car was that good and you lost because of your pit crew you would be pissed too.
No Jonathan…I am not retarded…sorry to disappoint you….Denny whined too much about his crew…I am a long time NASCAR fan and even the driver I consider is the biggest whiner never ever dissed his team the way Denny did…and there were many races I have seen lost in the pits….or because of another driver’s stupidity…No I am not saying Denny is stupid….but good grief, these are the guys you are counting on to build you and maintain a car that could win…..When did he thank his crew for giving him a car that could actually win the race..He didnt..enough said…
Name calling = post deleted. Let’s show some respect people!
Wow! Here it is again. A driver is angry, and gets called
a whiner, or cry baby. I thought Kyle had it bad.
I believe that Denny has every right to complain and be honest with his crew. That being said I strongly agree with aracerdude, the comments Denny makes should be kept within the family. I would think that it is going to bring the crew’s morale down because he has publicly embarrassed them, that can not lead to a positive outcome.
Denny has been one of the best drivers to come around in a long time! Everyone gets a little hot-headed once in awhile.. He was pissed that his team lost the race and he did do his part by driving his ass off to get second. I’d be the same way. On the flip side, yelling and humiliating his crew is going to make them no work as hard. I treat my people with respect so that they will work that much harder for me, that’s the way it works. Piss em off til the cry and they’re useless! He’s still VERY young and new to the sport, he’ll get it eventually!
I don’t know what to say. I am shocked. Denny is an awesome driver, and I understand his frustration. Still Denny, that is a big mistake to be blaming your pit crew. Yes, they might have cost you the race, but it is not a wise decision to come out and publicly blame your crew. They are doing the best they can, and mistakes are bound to happen. Just replace the poor performers. No need to play the blame game. You are still the man, but sometimes lashing out against your crew ends up coming back to bite you in the ass.
It’s not about being hot headed… Its about the way he is treating his crew. That is beyond ridiculous. Earnhardt, Sr. said if he ever started saying things like “Look what ‘I’ve’ done” to pop him in the mouth. I don’t think it would be out of line for someone on his crew to give Denny a good one in the mouth. He has done some amazingly stupid things on the track…. Stupider than an honest mistake of fumbling a lug nut or two. The tire changer wants to win as much as he does. I’m starting to think Denny is a douche bag regardless of his driving ability.
If I was on his crew I’d pop him one and walk. That’s not somebody I’d want to be working with. Its going take a while before Denny regains respect from me, IF he even can.