Denny Hamlin Recovers from Subpar Qualifying Run at Las Vegas
9 months agoDenny Hamlin recovered from an extremely disappointing 28th-place starting position to finish eighth at Las Vegas. Despite a mediocre start, a cagy call from crew chief Chris Gabehart for two tires during the second caution propelled Hamlin from 21st to 8th and he was never again outside of the top ten except on pit stop exchanges. Hamlin took the lead from teammate Martin Truex, Jr. at the start of Stage 2 but faded in the second half after Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick proved to have the overwhelmingly fastest cars. Regardless, Hamlin and Kyle Busch stand as the only drivers to make an on-track pass for the lead in all three 2024 races. Hamlin ranked fifth in speed on Sunday. He ranks second in the Cup Series with a speed percentile of 93.24, only barely behind his teammate, Truex's 94.29.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference