Last weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway saw Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott fight for the lead in the dying stages of the race. Not long after, the JGR driver found himself spinning around and dropping out of contention for the win. When the checkered flag dropped it was Elliott who won the race, breaking his 42-race winless streak and finally heading back to victory lane.
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Following the race, while still on pit road, Hamlin was asked if he considered Elliott to be a threat in the championship fight.
Hamlin stated, “I think they have slowly but surely gotten better really as the seasons gone on. So yeah there’s, it seems like those couple organizations dominating right now and he’s part of one of them. That’s certainly what he’s been capable of for a long time… Definitely, he’s sure a threat for sure because he’s done it before.”
Can Denny Hamlin finally win the championship this year?
Despite the strong competition on the racetrack from the Hendrick Motorsports boys, JGR too has a fast car this season, especially on short tracks. Hamlin has been on top form as well bagging two points-paying race wins in just nine races so far. When it comes to the playoffs, he is already locked in for that.
But just like every time, it’s not his regular season performance that ends up ruining his chance for the title fight, but the problems that take place once he’s in the playoff stages. For him to be able to win a championship this year he’ll need to have both luck and the consistency to play its part.
Meanwhile, looking at the way Hamlin’s been driving this season, if not the championship he might just be able to close the gap on his quest to reach the 60-win mark very soon.
