Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch will swap pit crews beginning at Texas

Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed Monday that the pit crews for Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch will swap teams beginning this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

The change comes with Busch eliminated from the playoffs last weekend at Bristol, while Hamlin advanced to the second round.

Going into the Bristol race, Busch’s pit crew ranked second in the series based on average four-tire stop times, according to Racing Insights. The average time for Busch’s pit crew was 11.7 seconds. That was three-tenths of a second faster than Hamlin’s pit crew, which ranked seventh, according to Racing Insights.

Pit crew changes between a team not in the playoffs and one in the playoffs within the same organization is not uncommon in the series.

Changing pit crew members also not new this season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace switched some pit crew members in early July before the Atlanta race. Joe Gibbs Racing provides pit crews also for 23XI Racing. The change was made to strengthen both teams. Bell had an average finish of 4.0 in the first round of the playoffs. Wallace won the Kansas playoff race.

How to describe these Cup playoffs? 

Well, Kevin Harvick came up with a slogan to explain why he’s no longer competing for a championship. He put it on a T-shirt. For $20 you can have one.

But there are other ways to look at what’s transpired and what could come in the second round at Texas, Talladega and the Charlotte Roval. 

Three races in, these playoffs have seen fire and rain (both at Darlington) and much, much more. 

All four playoff drivers with ties to Richard Childress Racing past, present or future have been eliminated. Two former champions are gone. A playoff newcomer with one top-10 finish in the last five months