Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed confusion over Denny Hamlin’s uncharacteristic and cautious strategy during the recent NASCAR race in Atlanta. Straying from his usual method of hanging back before making a late charge, Hamlin’s tactics proved ineffective, ultimately leading to a final-lap wreck.
On his popular podcast, *Dale Jr. Download*, Earnhardt Jr. analyzed Hamlin’s performance in the race.
“Well, again, this will all be a nothing burger if he advances. But that was not, that was out of character for Denny. A guy that’s like… it was just out of character I don’t know how else to say it,” Earnhardt Jr. remarked.
For those familiar with Hamlin’s style, the shift was surprising. Normally, Hamlin waits patiently at the back during superspeedway races, only making his move when the timing feels right.
At Atlanta, however, Hamlin climbed to almost 20th place before backing off again, seemingly anticipating a crash that would shake up the race.
Earnhardt Jr. noted the challenge of such a strategy at Atlanta due to the track’s narrower layout compared to Daytona or Talladega.
“It’s harder for that strategy to work at Atlanta because of the track width,” Earnhardt Jr. explained. “At a place like Daytona, Talladega, where you would use that same style maybe, you’ve got more room to kind of make your way forward and it was the logjam that made it, you know, he’s sitting there going, ‘I’ve tried this strategy before, it is what it is, I had a bad qualifying, I’m not going to be in a hurry. Hopefully, there’s a lot of attrition.'”
However, Hamlin’s strategy didn’t work as expected due to the lack of a significant crash that could have reshuffled the leaders. Although there was an incident between Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe at the end of Stage 1, it wasn’t enough to create the chaos Hamlin had hoped for.
This left Hamlin waiting for an opportunity that never materialized.
“He never went on the attack. It was like he wasn’t going to make that move until the big crash happened, right? He was going to hope that the crash took a lot of people out of this race and making that 20 points more attainable.
“So, I don’t know man, I was a little surprised by it. I think he will probably still advance. If he doesn’t, then this is a bigger story,” Earnhardt Jr. added.
Ultimately, Hamlin’s gamble ended in his own wreck during overtime at turn four.
“So, look, they didn’t have the attrition and the crashes that Denny was anticipating, of course, the one they have he’s in it off turn four.
“When he’s sitting back there with 40 to go and you’re watching the race and how the race has been going and how I guess, when you’re watching the pack and how the pack has been behaving, you’re thinking, ‘I don’t know how in the hell he thinks he’s going to drive up through this,’” Earnhardt Jr. concluded.
