Denny Hamlin Concedes He Will Be An Underdog Against Austin Hill In A Superspeedway Showdown

Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill followed through on his superspeedway expertise at the Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. He reached Victory Lane in the first race of the O’Reilly Auto Parts season and increased his drafting track win tally to eleven.

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin got back to the Actions Detrimental studio for the first episode of the season and was all praise for Hill, his race craft, and his team.

He said, “Their cars are the fastest. There’s no disputing that they’ve got less drag. They certainly have more horsepower. I’ve heard that the horsepower numbers they’ve done from O’Reilly’s testing engine dynos are crushing everyone on the superspeedways. So, it’s going to be hard to pass the fastest car with the least amount of drag, and a driver who is really good at his craft.”

Hill made a couple of blocks in the final lap of the race to protect his lead and ensure his victory. Hamlin was completely impressed by those moves. He believes that there aren’t enough people or experience in the entire series to understand how the speed of his car can be overcome.

Hamlin believes getting into an O’Reilly car and beating Hill is easier said than done; in fact, ‘Hill will be a heavy favorite’ to beat the JGR driver. Interestingly, the chance to race in the series had come to Hamlin during the offseason. While he was interested in participating, a sponsor did not fall through on time, and things ended up not happening. 

It will be quite the experience to watch one of NASCAR’s all-time bests try to oust Hill in a game that he is so good at. But as Hamlin pointed out, Hill will be the favorite of that battle. 11 of his 15 wins (73.33%) in the series have come on drafting style tracks, and that’s the highest rate for any driver in history with over five wins.