NASCAR playoff driver crashes in practice at Martinsville Speedway
This weekend, NASCAR Cup Series drivers are racing on the half-mile of Martinsville Speedway. The Virginia short track will host the final playoff elimination race ahead of next week’s finale.
Near the halfway mark in practice, playoff driver Denny Hamlin suffered an odd mechanical failure.
Watch the video of the Denny Hamlin crash below.
As he rolled into turn three, Hamlin lifted off the throttle. However, the car continued accelerating due to a hung throttle.
Somehow, Hamlin was able to lock it down. He backed it hard into the outside wall.
Denny Hamlin stated over the radio, “Throttle stuck!”
He returned to the garage area. After climbing from his mangled car, he slammed his helmet on the roof.
Hamlin turned a total of 33 laps in practice before the incident. The No. 11 team will not take part in qualifying and they’ll likely be going to a backup car.
The team is still checking to see if the car remains square. If it is, they’ll be repairing it.
As for the playoff battle, Hamlin sits under the championship cutline. He’s in search of stage points. Starting from the back will make stage points hard to grab early in the race.
Hamlin was checked and released from the infield medical center.
NASCAR point standings ahead of Martinsville
Denny Hamlin comments on the incident
“Our car was phenomenal. It was doing everything we needed it to do,” Hamlin told NBC Sports.
“We just made a change and then went back out to assess the change. Thought it was right where it needed to be.”
“The car didn’t slow down. The throttle hung on me. Chris sent me a picture and there’s huge chunk of rubber that’s in the throttle body.”
“I tried to do everything I could to not hit head on. This small track, it’s hard to keep it off the wall here.”
“We drew the unlucky straw. It’s the story for 20 years. So disappointing considering the preparation the team puts in to bring me a fast car.”
“I hate this for the team that’s now gotta work all hours of the night. Just unlucky.”
“If the car has the ability to maneuver like this one did, then you got a chance. The road has gotten infinitely harder but it’s not impossible.”
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Crew chief Chris Gabehart comments
“This is a totally different era,” Gabehart explained for why they are trying to repair the car and not bring out the backup.
“Most of the clip looks fine, we think. We’re going to go take a couple measurements here in just a minute.”
“Then, it will be just replacing some body panels and a bumper. There was a lot of good things about this car. It fired off really fast.”
“Unfortunately, just swallowed a big clump of rubber and it got stuck in-between the throttle stop and the throttle lever and hung the throttle.”
“It wasn’t anything anybody did wrong. Just a freak deal.”
“We’re going to do our best to get this fixed. But, we gotta get some more information first.”
The team is planning to fix the car at the track.
Martinsville TV Schedule: November 2024 (NASCAR)
