Denny Hamlin blames Chase Elliott for the Watkins Glen fuel drama, slams the critics of Alan Gustafson
Chase Elliott might miss the Cup playoff for the first time in his Cup career.
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Chase Elliott (Credits: @TeamHendrick/Twitter) and Denny Hamlin (Credits: IMAGO)
Three times Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin pointed out that Chase Eliott could have questioned the strategy call that led to him running out of fuel at Watkins Glen last Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver labeled it an elementary mistake and had some strong words for individuals who blamed the No:9 crew chief Alan Gustafson.
Elliott came into a half in the run-off area at the bus stop session of the Ney York track on lap 55. The team planned to cover the maximum distance they could before pitting backfired as they miscalculated the fuel load. This put Elliott in a must-win position going into the regular season finale at Daytona to make it to the last 16.
While talking about the incident on his podcast, Action Detrimental, he pointed out that Elliott is a driver with enough experience to understand things when they are wrong and added that Gustafson is equally responsible. He said, “People want to pin this on (Crew Chief) Alan Gustafson. You can try. And he’s the leader. He’s responsible. But where’s Chase Elliott in this? I mean, he’s experienced enough.”
Hamlin went on to claim that the mistake was so elementary and claimed if his crew chief had made the call, he would have told him it was wrong. He said, “If (Hamlin’s Crew Chief) Chris Gabehart said to me, ‘Flip your switch and then come third time by,’ I immediately would’ve said, ‘That’s not right.’ I immediately would’ve said, ‘That’s not right. It’s not third time. I can’t go that far. I know I cannot got that far.’ That’s just, that’s elementary.”
In case you missed it: Willaim Byron promises to help Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman to secure the win at Daytona
Denny Hamlin blames the entire HMS team for the mistake
Hamlin went on to say that he finds it extremely surprising that none of the experienced crew members of the No:9 team and Hendrick Motorsports identified the wrong call and asked the crew chief for clarification. He insisted that everyone associated with the team should be thrown under the bus for the incident.
“Not Chase, not Alan, not anyone who heard that communication multiple times, did not raise their hand and say, ‘Are we sure our math is correct?’ Because it’s three times worse than it should be. Like there’s no way. You’d be lucky to go a lap. So it’s hard not to throw one person under the bus because you can’t. It’s everyone’s fault,” he said.
The mess-up really helped Hamlin’s driver Bubba Wallace as Elliott potentially winning at Glen was the biggest threat for him. Now Wallace has to just finish strong at Daytona while his playoff rivals have to win to progress.
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Justin P Joy
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