By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Yes, the tweet is true.
Denny Hamlin confirmed that the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be his last with crew chief Mike Wheeler.
However, the veteran driver would go no further to explain what went transpired between driver and crew chief due to his focus on Homestead.
“You know, I don’t want to get into details, to be honest with you, and rehash it all, but certainly when it all started that I knew he was someone who had been working with me since 2004 ‑‑ yeah, 2004, or even when I started in that EJP truck way back in the day, he’d go up there to Maine and check it out. He was a guy that was always working his way up the ladder within JGR, within the engineering program. He’s super smart, like I said, a great friend of mine. The spot was always his,” Hamlin stated.
With the possibility of a 12-year streak of winning a race ending, he recognizes that the sport is about performance on the track.
“It’s a big performance business, and even though ‑‑ if you compare us to other drivers that people think are having a great season and we’re actually having a better season, it’s kind of unfair. You know, that’s just the standards which we have for ourselves. We just ‑‑ a change is going to be made, and that’s all I can really say about it.”
So who will be the crew chief of the No. 11 in 2019? That question is still to be determined.