Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Hamlin reported that he struggled to stay in the draft during Thursday night’s Duel race.
This was after he’d spun entering the pit lane, meaning he starts deep in the pack in 30th position for the first points-scoring race of NASCAR’s Next Generation era.
“There’s a lot of factors that goes into cars losing the draft,” said Hamlin.
“I tried my best – I lined up and did everything I was supposed to do. I was at the tail end – this is once I got lapped by the Toyotas because I was trying to push them forward – and I couldn’t hang on.
“There’s nothing I could’ve done short of telling the person in front of me where to run on the racetrack to allow me to stay in there, but you can’t do it.”
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Hamlin explained that four cars is the ideal number for a small pack to pull away from those behind. On new tyres, cars will stay connected in a powerful long drafting line,…
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