Denny Hamlin’s crew chief calls NASCAR to have “everyone held accountable to the same standards moving forward” after the Pocono DQ he “isn’t proud of”
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Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart
Joe Gibbs Racing saw one of their best outings in the cup series turn into a nightmare in Pocono last weekend as their win was stripped away for an infraction found in post-race inspection. Denny Hamlin finished P1 in the race ahead of his teammate Kyle Busch at P2 so both of their finishes were deleted and given to Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick respectively who finished behind them in the race after a long post-race inspection.
Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup, has come out to explain why the JGR team was punished, claiming that some problems were found that affected the aerodynamics of the vehicles in the front fascia where the use of such materials was prohibited by the law. Now Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart has been forth expressing his thoughts on the DQ ahead of the Indy cup Race outing.
Find out what Denny Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart said on the JGR duo’s DQ
Chris Gabehart acknowledged that he has a feeling of embarrassment because of the impractical situation that happened to the team and it hurts more considering h he used to feel like he understood every detail that goes into his team. He pointed out that it is hard to micro-manage every aspect of a race team as big as the No:11 which turned out to be a double-edged sword for them.
“This one just slipped past the at-track personnel. Honestly, it’s a feeling of embarrassment because it’s not practical, but I am one who feels like I should understand every detail that goes into my race team. But at the same time, for a race team to execute at a high level, you can’t micromanage it to the nth in which they’re not allowed to think. So, it’s a double-edged sword, but we did not realize it,” Chris Gabehart told RACER.
Chris Gabehart went on to say that he isn’t proud of anything that took place with the car and has a feeling that he needs to do a better job in understanding every aspect and detail of execution regarding the team. He added that it is not feasible for a crew chief fighting consistently for the top 15 to control every aspect of the team, which resulted in the current situation.
“I’m not proud of it, or do I feel like I don’t somehow have to do a better job as crew chief of understanding every detail of execution? But there’s not a crew chief that competes in the top 15 on a weekly basis who will tell you that they do understand every level of detail put into their cars because it’s a team sport, and there’s no way any one person can,” Chris Gabehart added.
Chris Gabehart went on to explain that though with the Next-Gen car era he doesn’t disagree with NASCAR’s ruling though he believes the penalty was harsh for two pieces of tape. He pointed out that the JGR team was in wrong and failed to assess the magnitude of wrongdoing they committed but hopes that every team from now on will be assessed and held accountable using the same standard as they witnessed in Pocono.
“We’re in a new era of NASCAR, NextGen, and all the soundbites that entail. But the practical reality of that is it was a very harsh penalty for effectively two pieces of tape, and I don’t disagree with NASCAR’s assessment that they needed to make it. We were in the wrong and certainly didn’t understand the magnitude that we were, but we were. All I can ask is that the precedent has been set and that everyone is held accountable to the same standards moving forward. What that means for the industry remains to be seen,” Chris Gabehart explained.
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Justin P Joy
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