April 14, 2025
When Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin started on the second row in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol, most people expected one or the other to dominate and overtake front-row starters Alex Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It turned out to be Larson, who led over 400 laps for the second consecutive Bristol race, but Hamlin ran in the top five for the entire race (except for pit stop exchanges) and eventually finished second. He never had anything for Larson but was also never really challenged for second in the second half of the race after Bowman's engine failure. Although he failed to win his third race in a row, he gained 19 points on William Byron in the championship and now trails him by a mere 30 points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 12, 2025
Denny 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
April 7, 2025
After 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
April 6, 2025
Joe 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
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