NASCAR: The Hendrick issues that led to Denny Hamlin’s win

Denny Hamlin took advantage of multiple issues experienced by the Hendrick Motorsports drivers to win the first race of the second round of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

When the green flag dropped on Sunday and the round of 12 of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs got underway at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers looked strong, and the only team that could keep up was Hendrick Motorsports.

The fastest car on the track for the majority of the night was that of William Byron, who drove through the field more than once.

Kyle Larson won stage one, and he looked primed to dominate as the track transitioned to a cooler surface in the desert night. But on lap 93, Joey Gase had his left rear tire fall off the wheel, sending him hard into the outside wall.

A group of drivers elected not to pit under the ensuing caution flag period, including all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

It was a head-scratching move, knowing that the fuel window would be very close with a pit stop under caution.

Just about everyone else stopped, and they were able to make it to the end of the stage. The drivers who elected to stay out had to pit with around 10 laps to go in stage two, and most dropped off the lead lap.

This off-sequence of pit stops created a bit of chaos. Chase Elliott was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver who was able to get his lap back before the stage ended, and William Byron got the free pass to get back on the lead lap.

This trapped Larson and many other contenders a lap down, forcing them to take the wave around. Why that mattered so much is because it meant running on older tires to start the final stage. With no caution flag periods in the final stage, drivers such as Larson and Alex Bowman were never able to regain the track position lost.

To make matters worse, both Byron and Bowman ended up having tire issues, effectively ending what shot they had left of securing decent results.

Hamlin held off Elliott to win, and for the second round in a row, he can now focus on the next round of the playoffs after becoming the first driver to secure a spot.

There were several missed opportunities in this race for Hendrick Motorsports, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. H called to speak with each crew chief regarding the decision not to pit during that caution flag period. I wouldn’t call it a rule of thumb — maybe a rule of fuel — but any time you can pit within your pit window, and under caution, to finish off a stage, stop and get fuel and maybe tires.