Denny Hamlin is wondering if the advantage the first pit stall provides is fair, especially during a championship race.
The debate was sparked by William Byron’s performance on pit road at Phoenix, and how he was able to come out in front of many contenders, even though he didn’t have the best car. While it didn’t matter in the end, the championship certainly could’ve been decided then and there if Byron was able to hold off Ryan Blaney.
Nevertheless, Hamlin elaborated on his thoughts during the latest Actions Detrimental podcast, where he stated his belief that maybe the first pit stall shouldn’t be that much of an advantage.
“I guess I see this both ways, but there’s a long gap between the camera at the end of pit road, and where the yellow line is, where they stop, where pit road speed ends. Do we have to give the No. 1 pit box that much of an advantage? I’m wondering, it’s such a big race, why do you — if we had another champion decided on pit road, is that really — I mean, I guess it is a team sport. It is,” Hamlin pondered. “So you want to give the pit road guys a chance, and it’s up to the driver and the team to keep putting themselves in position for the pit crew to put them out first.
“But it’s a considerable time difference in having the No. 1 stall versus having you know, the fifth stall. Or whatever it might be.”
Alas, it’s not like the first pit stall is simply given out. You have to earn it through qualifying. Still, it’s certainly a boon on race day.
It didn’t make a difference at Phoenix though. Ryan Blaney is the champion, and William Byron is left wondering what could’ve been.
Denny Hamlin wasn’t surprised by Ryan Blaney winning Cup Series championship
Regardless, Ryan Blaney secured his first NASCAR Cup Series championship after finishing second in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Though he led just two laps on the day, Blaney’s No. 12 Ford had the speed to stay near the front of the pack for majority of the day, which ultimately was the difference. Hamlin, who finished eighth, said on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast that he wasn’t surprised to see Blaney take home the championship, noting that his car was the best among the four championship contenders.
“I thought that the 12 was methodical in making his way to the front,” Hamlin said. “It was only a matter of time before he got there. If he ever controlled the race, it was going to be a snoozer — I think he was by far the best. … I think the best car of the race won the championship.”
Blaney earned his first Cup Series championship by finishing in front of fellow championship contenders Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell. Larson finished third, while Byron followed in fourth, with Bell coming away with a P36 result.
“You never want to count yourself out,” Blaney said after the race. “I mean, I think in the summer we were struggling a little bit. But we never gave up. We just went to work. I’ve said that all week, like, this group goes to work and they figure out problems. That’s why they’re such an amazing group to be with, with the Team Penske folks, ’cause they just put their head down and do the work, accept the challenge.
“That’s what we did. It’s not happenstance we started running good through the playoffs. It was a lot of hard work by a lot of amazing men and women at the shop. I can’t thank them enough for that.”
On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.
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