Denny Hamlin was nothing like his usual self over the past two race weekends. A dud strategy in Atlanta and a misfortunate first lap in Watkins Glen have put him six points below the elimination line for the Round of 12. The veteran now goes to Bristol — the last bullet in his chamber — seeking resolve for his mistakes. The optimistic note is that this situation isn’t an unfamiliar one to him.
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In 2019, Hamlin went to the ISM Raceway for the final race of the Round of 8. He was 20 points below the elimination line to make the Championship 4 after spinning out the earlier weekend in Texas. Aware of the corner that he was in, he churned out one of the best races of his career and captured the victory flag. It was the sixth win of his season and put him through the season finale.
He quipped to the press after the win, “I can’t believe it. This race team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve to be there. I put them in a bad hole last week.” The result of the stumble in Texas was that he either had to reach the victory lane in the ISM Raceway or finish 20 points ahead of Joey Logano. Fortunately, he chose the latter in his extraordinarily fast Toyota Camry.
Heading to Bristol, all the inspiration that he needs lies in the 143 laps that he led that day. Moreover, the 0.533-mile oval track is only too accustomed to being tamed by him. He is on top of a back-to-back win streak there and will hope to keep the ball rolling. Also, he has seven top-10 finishes and three victories in the last 10 races. The bottom line, the numbers do give him an advantage.
“It’s not over yet. It’s not over till the end of Bristol.”
The loss of confidence is one thing fans are never going to get to see from the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. He recently expressed strong confidence that he is capable of making up for the points deficit and hitting the bullseye in Bristol.
He said, “We’ll be fine, I have no doubts that we are going to be good and up-front and control our own destiny … It’s not over yet. It’s not over till the end of Bristol.” The upcoming Bass Pro Shops Night Race will be the 127th Cup Series event held at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Hamlin will contest against his fellows over 500 laps around the iconic short oval and try to get the better of them. A single misstep and he could find himself in an unpleasant wreck and that would mean the end of his title bid. Prematurely, once again.
