After all these years of competing and tasting incredible success in the NASCAR Cup Series championship, the one thing that JGR driver Denny Hamlin lacks is a championship title. There have been quite a few moments in the past where he got close, and ended up in the final four, but fell short right when it mattered. Most of his loss was attributed to bad luck.
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However, with the regular season completed, Hamlin seems to be a comfortable spot this time around. Having secured the third spot in the playoff spot, he has a lot going for him. Meanwhile, ahead of the race at Darlington, where he has traditionally been strong, Hamlin seemed to have doubled down on himself in hopes for the title this season.
Denny Hamlin explains why he feels confident heading into the playoffs
Hamlin mentioned during his interview with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio that people frequently ask him why this year differs from the previous 17 years in which he competed for a championship. He then explained that the primary reason for the difference is that his team has improved in all areas this time around.
He added, “I mean, who had on their Rubik’s cube that we’re gonna get three road course poles this year? We couldn’t earn 25th last year. So we’ve got speed now at all the tracks that are the avenue to making it to Phoenix and then winning a championship.”
What makes 2023 different from the past 17 seasons for driver No. 11?
📈 “The difference is we’re better everywhere.” – @dennyhamlin
Could this be the year for him? pic.twitter.com/mLG1w33fOi
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) September 2, 2023
“The first year Next-Gen, while our cars were phenomenal on the mile-and-a-half tracks as we knew last year… The other tracks we just weren’t that good. And it would have made no difference to make the final four because we weren’t fast enough to win anyway, which is the problem we had in 2021. Coy Gibbs, he told my mom, we have no shot like we need the race to come out perfectly…”
Furthermore, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver mentioned that this year, his team has the necessary speed to compete for the win. Adding that the issues with the pit crew have been resolved. And there were other small things that have given him more confidence this time around.
The track might favor Hamlin this weekend at Darlington
Just looking back at the Xfinity Series race, would show that Hamlin is on his A-game at Darlington. After all, he won the race ahead of Austin Hill and his teammate John Hunter Nemechek.
After such a fantastic race in the Xfinity Series, Hamlin is surely the favorite heading into the Cup race later on Sunday with his confidence at an all-time high. Furthermore, this recent win was not the first time the JGR driver has won at the track. In fact, he has done so on five other occasions previously as well. Interestingly, nearly 1/3 of Hamlin’s Xfinity Series wins (18) have come at this specific race track.
Therefore, one may agree that the track might end up favoring Hamlin this weekend as he hopes to stay ahead of the field. At the end of the day, he would need as many wins as he could get to make his way into the final four later this season.
