DARLINGTON, S.C. — NASCAR Cup Series races are often won and lost in a game of inches. While the conclusion to Sunday‘s Goodyear 400 was determined in overtime, this is a race that was won on pit road.
Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota came down pit road in third place for what would be the final pit stop of Sunday’s race after a late-race spin by Kyle Larson brought out the yellow flag with four laps remaining. Hamlin exited the pits first and then rocketed off with the lead, controlling the overtime restart and storming to his second consecutive win.
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“I knew coming in third, I was going to have to have my best roll of the day,” Hamlin said in his post-race press conference. “That is my fastest pit roll, my fastest speed into the box. I needed to put it perfectly on the sign so they don‘t have to adjust.
“I needed to stack tenths and tenths and tenths (of seconds) on my side of the job. Once I get into the pit stall, they drop the right side … I know I did a good job on my metrics. Hopefully, I didn‘t speed. But then when they dropped the jack on the right, I know right then, ‘oh, boy, this is going to be a heater.’ “
A “heater” it was as the 44-year-old surged off pit road from third to first, propelling the No. 11 team to eventual victory.
Pit road was a focal point during Sunday afternoon’s event, as temperatures soared close to 90 degrees in the South Carolina heat, demanding endurance from teams who made the most stops of any track on the 2025 schedule so far.
Attention was also given to the Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew‘s work on Denny Hamlin’s Toyota, particularly jackman Joel Bouagnon’s distinctive behind-the-back method for moving across the car to change the left-side tires.
Bouagnon is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, where he played football as a running back. In 2017, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears in the NFL before joining the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
In 2020, the now 30-year-old made the transition to NASCAR pit crew member, training for the “money stop” moments seen in Sunday’s race.
“Finishing a race like that is as good as it gets,” Bouagnon told NASCAR.com leaving Victory Lane. “Man, that’s kind of the moments you dream of. I’m so proud of this entire team for executing. There is not a more tense situation. That’s like the pinnacle of any pit stop performance. You want to come down on a money stop like that.
“It feels great. I’m glad all our hard work is … it’s rare that you get to showcase it, you know, how lucky that we have it. We’ve got the team to execute everything. So we’re just being presented with these opportunities, and everyone’s executing. I’m glad we’re getting to see the fruits of our labor.”
Atop the pit box for the No. 11 team this season is crew chief Chris Gayle, new to the team after moving over from the No. 54 Toyota and driver Ty Gibbs. Gayle took the reins of Hamlin’s No. 11 group after former crew chief Chris Gabehart became the company’s competition director in the offseason.
Along with his driver, Gayle is celebrating consecutive Cup Series victories after the duo won at Martinsville last week prior to Sunday’s Darlington triumph. The leader of the No. 11 crew said the team has been preparing for clutch moments just like this.
“We have these conversations in the shop,” Gayle said. “I can tell you the one thing that every one of those guys has come to me about is that situation, how much they want to be in that situation, right? Some people shy away from that moment, get nervous, ‘I don‘t want to fail.’ These guys are completely the other way. They‘re like, ‘Give me the opportunity and let me try it.’
“I think you just can‘t commend that enough. You need that kind of culture and that kind of outlook from everybody on your team.”
That culture manifested the 56th trip to Victory Lane of Hamlin’s career, netting the team a critical five playoff points in addition to Hamlin’s chase of 60 career wins. The Virginia native now sits alone at 11th all-time in Cup Series wins, chasing former contemporary Kevin Harvick for 10th. With a pit crew that ranks second on the season according to NASCAR Insights, Gayle sees potential for even more success ahead.
“For those guys, man, they are just villains,” Gayle said of his crew. “They just want that moment to where they can go in there and just rip everybody‘s hearts out and win the race, walk away, don‘t care what anybody else thinks, unapologetic. They are just awesome. Happy to be part of their team.”
Now, the No. 11 team will turn its attention to Bristol Motor Speedway (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as it tries to echo a feat completed by JGR teammate Christopher Bell already this season — three consecutive victories.
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