Eleven races into the 2024 Cup Series season, Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin has comfortably secured his playoff spot. With three victories in his pocket, he has been the most successful driver thus far. Despite the cushion that he has secured, his crew chief Chris Gabehart isn’t blind to the importance of continuing this dominance throughout the regular season.
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Talking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the chief underlined the cruciality of securing as many playoff points as possible. The reason he provided are the challenges that will pop up once the calendar moves past Darlington, into the Round of 16. He said, “I’m looking at the first three races of the first round. Atlanta, Watkins Glen, and Bristol. Those are three pretty big wild cards.”
️ “The sense of urgency to stack playoff points is partially higher than ever due to this year’s first round of the playoffs.”
JGR crew chief Chris Gabehart (@CG1751) outlines why the No. 11 team is focused on grabbing wins and says we’ll see a big upset in the opening round pic.twitter.com/FCVJmhXVcK
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) May 2, 2024
“If you don’t have enough playoff points, mark my words, you’re gonna see a big upset coming out of that first round. Somebody is not gonna make it through.” Gabehart believes that the wariness of this coming meteor is why teams have a bigger sense of urgency in stacking up playoff points. Hamlin and William Byron lead the line for playoff points with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Denny Hamlin stands favorite to pick up more playoff points in Kansas
Hamlin is in red-hot form heading to Kansas for the 12th race of the ongoing season. He won at Dover last Sunday and now sits fourth on the points table. The 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway is a track that he needs no map to drive through. He has already conquered it four times and is poised to do so again on Sunday. Notably, he is also the defending winner of the race.
Talking to the press about his chances of success, he said, “I’m not going to call my shot like I did last time [Ahead of Dover], but I do feel good about Kansas. We have had a lot of success there over the years especially since I have worked with Chris and the Next Gen car. We definitely go with high expectations because we know what we are capable of.”
A fourth victory this year would not only grant him more playoff points but also the distinction of being the 11th most successful driver in Cup Series history. He holds 54 victories currently and shares the stage with Lee Petty as the 12th most successful. With more than one goal to race for in Kansas, there are plenty of ducks in the field for him to shoot at.
