NASCAR Championship: Denny Hamlin pit decision highlights sport’s teamwork dilemma

How much should drivers on the same team help each other out? One decision prior to the NASCAR Cup Series championship race is putting that question in the spotlight.

NASCAR is unique among all major sports in the way that teammates aren’t really teammates most of the time. At Joe Gibbs Racing, for instance, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have crew chiefs and crew members who share information, but when they race, with the exception of restrictor plate tracks and a few other very specific instances, they’re not cooperating much at all.

That truth is being put to the test Sunday in the biggest possible way. Hamlin qualified on the pole for the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which will decide the Cup Series championship. Starting first gave Hamlin the first choice of pit stall, and normally, pole winners will pick the very first stall at Homestead to give themselves a clear exit while leaving after service.

Yet Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota team chose to forego the first pit, effectively ceding it to Busch since he qualified second and had second pick as a result. He also didn’t sound crazy about the decision, which was made by Joe Gibbs Racing and not Hamlin himself.

“I think everything is earned,” Hamlin said to NASCAR.com. “Nothing is given. With us having the No. 1 pit stall, nobody else — none of the other competitors will have it. I don’t know. It’s a discussion.”

This is just a guess, but Hamlin would probably not have given up that pit stall if he alone was allowed to decide. On the surface, he’s racing for nothing: Hamlin didn’t make the Championship 4 and can’t win the title. But he’s still trying hard to avoid his first winless season since 2006, which in turn would likely please his longtime sponsor, FedEx, one of the few companies that still ponies up to back a car for an entire NASCAR season.

The dilemma here is everything that’s problematic about NASCAR teamwork in a nutshell. Very few other sports call athletes teammates when they are all out for themselves. The only other quick comparison would be in the Olympics where, say, sprinters might represent the same country but are still trying to best each other for medals.

NASCAR makes it even trickier for its drivers and crews because of the way they are all out for themselves until the team owner and management say they should do something for the good of the organization. There’s no easy solution to this state of affairs, and we’ll never know for sure, even if Busch wins the race on Sunday, whether Hamlin’s concession made that much of a difference. But even small advantages can make a difference in a championship race, and you have to imagine that the other three drivers going for the title at Homestead aren’t crazy that the 11 bunch decided to suddenly be inspired to be great teammates when it matters most.