A big topic of conversation in NASCAR is momentum. If a team is riding high, they are seen as having positive momentum. If they are struggling, the conversation turns to when they lost this momentum.
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According to Denny Hamlin's crew chief, Chris Gabehart, this isn't actually a thing in the elimination format era of the playoffs.
"You don't have to look any further back than this past Sunday and Joey Logano and the 22 team to talk about momentum," Gabehart said during a Wednesday appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio,
"I mean, just eight days prior, they were out. And they had that up and down playoffs as well. And let's not forget — we're talking about four joker tracks in the first six races of the playoffs on top of it. Momentum is not a thing, especially not with this format."
To Gabehart's point, Logano's playoffs have featured a mix of successes, struggles, and luck.
The two-time Cup champion entered the playoffs having finished 31st or worse in three of the final five regular-season races. He went out and won the opener at Atlanta to lock up a spot in the Round of 12.
Logano's next four finishes were 15th, 28th, 14th, and 33rd. This dropped him into a points deficit heading into the Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Roval. He finished eighth and was eliminated from the playoffs.
The situation changed hours later, however, as post-race inspection took place. Alex Bowman's car failed due to being too light, so NASCAR disqualified him. This eliminated Bowman from the playoffs and put Logano back in.
How did Logano respond to this stroke of luck? He went out and won a fuel mileage race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to reach the Championship 4.
"What is a thing is great teams with great experience levels that understand the pressure of the moment and know how to capitalize when the wind blows their direction, so to speak," Gabehart added.
Capitalizing on the moment is something that Gabehart and the No. 11 team will try to do over the next two weeks. This group has struggled in the first two rounds of the playoffs and to start the third round, which dropped Denny Hamlin to 27 points below the cutline heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Some of the issues were due to strategy backfiring, such as Hamlin deciding to ride around the rear of the field at Atlanta. He was unable to avoid a crash on the final lap.
Other issues were due to factors outside of the team's control, such as Corey LaJoie spinning Kyle Busch on the opening lap at Watkins Glen and collecting multiple drivers in an incident. He was then collected by Brad Keselowski in a later incident that sent his car into the wall.
Some issues, however, were due to unexpected mistakes on pit road. A loose wheel was one of the multiple setbacks for Hamlin and the No. 11 team last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Despite these problems, Hamlin and his team have continued to move through the opening rounds of the playoffs. They have relied on some bonus points at times and delivered some top-10 finishes when needed.
The team has advanced despite having what appears to be a lack of momentum. Now they have two more opportunities to deliver and get back to the Championship 4 for the first time since 2021.
"Certainly, we're not running quite as strong as what we were earlier in the year," Hamlin said after last weekend's race.
"We're definitely not as clean execution-wise as what we were. Just got to clean it up, go to Homestead and try to win it."
