NASCAR star Denny Hamlin has admitted that he's yet to talk to his crew chief Chris Gayle since their agonizing championship race loss at Phoenix.
Hamlin had dominated the race, but a late caution brought out by rival William Byron with just three laps to go forced overtime, with Kyle Larson snatching the title on the restart after taking just two tires on pit road.
However, the veteran driver insisted that his radio silence with his crew chief is 'not unordinary' after the season, and went out of his way to back the package that Gayle and his Joe Gibbs Racing team gave him.
Hamlin was talking on the first episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast since the November 2nd race, with the impact of the title being snatched from his grasp still clear.
Hamlin backs JGR crew chief
Asked on the show if he has spoken to Gayle since that Sunday in Phoenix, he said: No, I haven't. But it's not unordinary. When the season is over... I have given it all I got. Leave me alone now.
"This is the time I don't have to deal with anything. I might stop by, but from now until January, I don't have a whole lot of communication.
"Chris did a great job and the whole team did in preparing the car. I would tell him what I needed and they bought in. They gave me everything that I needed and then some."
His kind words for Gayle and his crew backs up what he said to reporters in hte immediate aftermath of the race, to whit: "We took four tires, and I thought that was definitely the right call. And just so many cars took two there, and obviously put us back. But the team did a fantastic job. They prepared a championship car, just didn't happen.
"Yeah, nothing I can do different. I mean, prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend and my team gave me a fantastic car. Just, just didn't work out. You know, I was just praying that no caution and, you know, had one there, and what can you do? It's just not meant to be."
