Chris Gabehart, crew chief for Denny Hamlin felt that Bristol produced the best race last night… that it was capable of producing. He feels that NASCAR still has a long way to go in regard to the short-track product in the Cup Series.

During the spring race at Bristol, there was hope for short-track racing. Goodyear had no idea what was going on, but tires were shredding after 40 laps max and produced one of the most interesting and intense short-track races in years.

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Denny Hamlin was the beneficiary of that tire battle earlier in the season. He managed a P4 finish and advanced to the Round of 12 last night.

After the race, Chris Gabehart spoke to the media about the tire surprise and the race itself.

“It certainly threw everybody a curveball coming into the weekend. Everyone expected it to be a tire falloff-style race,” Gabehart explained, via Trenton Worsham of Frontstretch. “I wasn’t convinced of it but certainly that’s the side I leaned on. We made a few setup decisions coming into the weekend that had I known it was going to be this we wouldn’t have made.

“So, we were at a little bit of a car deficit setup-wise, I think. And then once we execute the first two stages the way we did and get control of our points situation then it’s just about managing the day. There was a time there when I thought we had a chance to win. Certainly a second-place car but Denny managed the day the way he needed to and we ended up fourth.”

Denny Hamlin did just fine. He did what he had to do. At one point it looked like he could win the race. But it became evident that Kyle Larson was on another level Saturday night.

Gabehart thinks the racing was as good as you could hope for. Multiple grooves, good speed everywhere. But these cars are just too similar.

“Well, I actually thought it was as racey as you could expect it to be at Bristol with this car. It’s too easy to drive, they’re too close, and you’re not going to ask for much better racing. I’m sorry, you’re not,” the crew chief continued. “The bottom was good, the middle was good, the top was good, but they’re all separated by point-0, nothing and physics is a buffer. And you know, these are the world’s best stock car teams and drivers. If you don’t give them enough ways to separate themselves, that’s what you’re going to see.

The Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief summed it up succinctly. Unless something major happens with the Next Gen car, this is what we are going to get out of short tracks.

“The days of the old Bristol are over, that’s just the truth.”

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