3 days agoDenny Hamlin has won back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races, and it wouldn't be all that surprising to see him walk away with a third-straight victory this weekend in the Food City 500 on Sunday. Bristol Motor Speedway has been a great track for Hamlin over the course of his career, as he has collected four wins at this track over 35 career starts, along with an average finish of 13.3 (which is fourth-best among active drivers). This weekend, Hamlin qualified on the second row and the No. 11 Toyota looked strong in practice, ranking fifth-best in 30-lap average during the session. Looking back to last season, Hamlin ended up in victory lane here at Bristol in the spring race despite the field having to deal with major tire degradation. It's likely we'll see the tire issues happen again on Sunday, and Denny has already proved that he is one of the best in handling it. Currently, Hamlin has three straight top-five finishes at Bristol, two of which were victories. He should be a legitimate contender on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 week agoAfter this year's season-opening Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin stated that he was "losing his love" for the sport because luck has become such an important factor in deciding race winners some weeks. Of course, Hamlin didn't mind about having a little luck this past weekend, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver used a timely late caution, great pit stop, and solid final restart to steal the win at Darlington Raceway. It was Hamlin's fifth career victory at "The Lady in Black" and his second straight win this season. After the checkered flag flew, Denny joked, "I have two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson." Larson brought out the final caution of the race that allowed Hamlin to get into position to win. If that wouldn't have happened, Ryan Blaney would have likely won the Goodyear 400. Hamlin now sits second in the points standings after eight races, a distant 49 points behind leader, William Byron.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: M Sports
1 week agoJoe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin will start third for Sunday's race at Darlington Raceway, the Goodyear 400. Hamlin is the highest qualifying Toyota driver in the field for this week's race. In 25 races, Hamlin has four wins, 18 top-10 finishes, 1,000 laps led, and an average finish of 8.2, all of which rank first among active drivers, apart from laps led. After seven races so far this season, Hamlin has four top-10 finishes and one win, which came during last week's race at Martinsville. In practice, Hamlin ranked 21st in overall lap averages while ranking as high as 12th in 25 and 30-consecutive lap averages. Despite his practice speeds being a bit underwhelming, Hamlin's track history is better than all drivers and will still be a factor for the win regardless, especially with his JGR equipment.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 weeks agoDenny Hamlin won Sunday's Cook Out 400 to take his first win at Martinsville Speedway since 2015. His 274 laps led marked the third-most he has ever led at Martinsville, and the most he has led in a win. The race removed all doubts about his ability to win without crew chief Chris Gabehart, as his current crew chief Chris Gayle had never had a top-10 finish at Martinsville before. Although Hamlin first took the lead by staying out of the pits on the fourth caution on Lap 126, he led all but one lap after that when his teammate Christopher Bell passed him on the final restart before Hamlin took the lead on the next lap, eventually winning by 4.617 seconds. With the win, he improved from eighth to sixth in points and probably locked himself into the playoffs.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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