During his first lap on the Iowa Speedway, Denny Hamlin detected a crucial problem with his vehicle: the lack of brake pressure. The chief mechanic, Chris Gayle, immediately recognized that this issue could end his race before it even began.
Chase Briscoe, Hamlin’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, experienced the same anomaly. His chief mechanic, James Small, reached the same conclusions. Furthermore, driver Riley Herbst from 23XI Racing also faced similar difficulties.
These teams spent long hours in the garage in the morning, making various adjustments in hopes of achieving good performance during the Sunday race. They were allowed to drain their brake systems without penalty and could replace the rotors if they were broken, a change that both Hamlin’s and Briscoe’s teams executed for safety reasons.
Additionally, Hamlin’s team opted to change the brake cooling ducts, which resulted in a penalty at the rear. However, this aspect did not affect him, as Hamlin only achieved 32nd place in qualifying. Small, for his part, could not change the rotors. After qualifying in a state of doubt, he did not feel confident to compete efficiently.
Hamlin commented that the chances of the adjustments being effective were 50%. His teammate Tyler Reddick anticipated no issues, while Bubba Wallace seemed to be in a better situation. In contrast, Herbst was expected to have a complicated day.
Once the race began, Hamlin reported that the brake pedal fell to the floor on the third lap, with Briscoe facing the same situation shortly after. However, surprisingly, both drivers finished in fifth and sixth positions, despite the physical effort this entailed.
Hamlin valued the result, considering the problems he had during the entire weekend. He admitted that if he had known the race would be so complicated, he would have regarded a spot in the top 25 as a good reward.
Briscoe, for his part, acknowledged that he had never felt so much anxiety before a race. Although he initially had no issues, he felt the lack of brakes again in the second stage, leaving him with a constant uncertainty during the competition.
NASCAR rules prevent brake pad changes during the race weekend until the race starts, a process that would involve losing several laps. Both chief mechanics agreed that their brake option had not been the right one this weekend, despite having worked previously at other tracks.
The inability to make changes during the weekend has generated debate, and there is a growing demand for adjustments to be implemented in the rules allowing these changes for safety reasons. Both Gayle and Small highlighted the importance of considering revisions to brake policies, especially on short tracks where issues are more common.
According to Small, a compromise could be to replace worn pads with the same brands before the race. Both sides, Hamlin’s and Briscoe’s teams, expressed support for this idea, arguing that the safety of the drivers should be the number one priority.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_dc6e4a37a4a914838dd1b5d4288b0f135116010d