The weekend started off badly in qualifying as Hamlin could be found slogging around the track, over two seconds off the pace. He landed himself a start at the very back of the grid for Atlanta. His team immediately went under the hood, choosing to replace plug wires. The same change was made to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs in a proactive attempt to avoid the same issue on race day. They too, would start from the very back.
But while Truex and Gibbs marched to the front on Sunday, Hamlin remained at the very back. At first, it seemed as though there may have been an issue with the No. 11 Toyota, but it was actually a part of the plan. He ended Stage 1 in 32nd place, and about 15 laps into the second stage, he willingly pulled out of line in favor of returning to the rear of the field.
