Denny Hamlin captured the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship race on Friday night but deferred one of the key benefits on Sunday to his championship-eligible teammate.
Pit stall selection goes in order from best to worst qualifier, but Hamlin’s crew chief did not select the optimal first stall, leaving that one to Kyle Busch and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team after they qualified second.
This is the second year in a row that Hamlin has won the pole for the championship race, but he did not defer the optimal stall to Martin Truex Jr. in 2017, even though Furniture Row Racing has a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.
"We have a championship on the line, and what we'd love to do is win that championship," Gibbs was quotes by ESPN and NBC Sports. "If there's any criticism or anything, it goes to me.
"We work as a team getting ready. … At the race shop, we all work together to be the best we can be. We get here, we share information to try to be the best we can be.
Once the race starts — you've watched us — it's every man for himself. At the end of races, we've wrecked each other and everything else."
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