Denny Hamlin conceded that he ‘stole one back’ on Sunday at Darlington but he also felt confident that a dominant William Byron wasn’t going to win and that if there was a caution, Ryan Blaney wasn’t either.
‘Stole One Back,’ is the name of the episode.
“I saw that the No. 12 was having issues on pit road throughout the day,” Hamlin said of Blaney. “I mean, I thought that, truthfully, he had the best car. “It’s hard to say, considering he lead very few [laps] compared to the No. 24. But I think the No. 24 leading that whole race — it wasn’t fake news, but it was like, ‘Yeah, just put them behind someone and let’s see what happens.’ You could just see that the No. 12 was really able to make passes that others couldn’t. So, I thought he had the best car.
“He never had the track position, because it seemed like he would lose spots on pit road. Certainly, that was a hindrance for that team, and it was ultimately kind of a deciding factor there.”
Hamlin caught the caution and indeed the 12 team had more issues on pit road. It’s an issue that Blaney crew chief Jonathan Hassler agrees they need to work on.
“The group’s perfectly capable,” Hassler explained. “We’ve just got to clean it up, and we’ll be there, hopefully, sooner rather than later.”
