Denny Hamlin heads into the playoffs at one of his strongest tracks, Darlington, where he owns an average finish of 7.9 with five wins in 26 starts, including a victory this spring.
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He has also collected stage points in all but six of the 30 stages run there and led laps in 11 consecutive races, a streak spanning five years and echoing Darrell Waltrip’s legendary 17-race run in the 1970s and ’80s.
Hamlin enters the Southern 500 with a +23 cushion in the standings, but while consistency could carry him into the next round, he knows only a championship will silence the critics who target him for not winning one. Sitting third with four wins, he has momentum in his corner and intends to ride it deep into the postseason.
Reflecting on his outlook, Hamlin said, “It’s certainly as strong as I’ve felt. I’ve had other years I’ve felt very, very strong. But sometimes things don’t go your way, and so I’m just cautiously optimistic about our speed.”
He added, “We’re one of the very handful of cars. There’s no more than four or five that are fast every single week. We just hope we’re one of those teams that moves on to the final four and doesn’t have misfortune.”
The setup will differ from the Goodyear 400 earlier in April, where Hamlin earned his second win of the season after rolling off third. With the Southern 500 staged under the lights, he stressed that his team must adapt to the changing conditions.
Hamlin explained that while the baseline is pretty close to the same, they need to tweak it for certain conditions. He underlined that as the cars continue to evolve, constant adjustments are essential, since relying on the old setup won’t cut it in a fresh environment.
This year, Hamlin feels unshackled. With no off-track distractions like the lawsuit that clouded his 2024 run, the No. 11 driver is focused solely on the task at hand. For Hamlin, it’s all chips on the table in his pursuit of a long-awaited first Cup championship.
