LAS VEGAS, Nev: It’s time for a win.
Denny Hamlin won at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in the fall of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series, and while that victory did not automatically advance him to the Championship 4 at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway (since it was the first race in the Round of 12 that year), a win in Sunday’s South Point 400, however, would deliver Hamlin the ultimate Playoff gift and secure his placement into the Championship season-finale race on November 10.
“I was a little worried going into the Playoffs with as few of Playoff points that we’ve had in quite some time, and certainly, the schedule wasn’t fitting for myself and the team, but we got through it, so now I feel like we have a great opportunity to go and win one of the next three races and fight for it in Phoenix,” Hamlin said Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hamlin hasn’t won a NASCAR Cup Series race since Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway in late April, and his 2024 Cup Series Playoffs have been anything but smooth sailing, but Hamlin survived last weekend’s final road course race of the season at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Road Course.
Seeded sixth overall and a mere eight points below the current cut line, Hamlin has kept his hopes of capturing his first Cup Series championship alive.
The Chesterfield, Va., native said, while there were many bumps in the road reverting back before even the Playoffs started, that he remained patient and let the races run their course. Of course, with some perseverance, speed and yes, even a little bit of luck, Hamlin is right back in the mix.
“Yeah, I really truly believe in odds and big sample sizes, and it was going so bad for so long there in the summer that you just have to think that eventually this stuff kind of works itself out in the end,” Hamlin added. “Play enough hands of blackjack, you are only at a two percent deficit. If you play (just) 20 hands, you could lose all of them. You have to be patient and go through those swings sometimes.”
A win on Sunday in Sin City would deliver Hamlin the 55th Cup Series win of his career, and while it would also eliminate any pressure to perform over the following two races, Hamlin said the win would give his Joe Gibbs Racing team some much-needed preparation time.
“It would be a big one for sure. You just get a little bit of extra time,” said Hamlin. “You are not working on the next two race tracks; you are working on Phoenix instead. It just really probably would help the teams, more so than the driver, but the first race in the Round of 8 is always one of the most important because of the advantage that you can get.
“I’m not really sure if stats would back that up that people that have won their way in the Round of 4 right away – I couldn’t tell you how the result has impacted the round of 4, because it is one race, but yeah, it certainly would be awesome, and I would love to have that happen.”
If the gamble doesn’t pay off for Hamlin on Sunday, next weekend the Cup Series teams invade South Florida for a stop at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, a 1.5-mile track that makes Hamlin feels comfortable and a win could be delivered in the penultimate race of the Round of 8.
“It has been good, but I still think there is one or two drivers that I think are a little better than what I am at that race track and their techniques,” offered Hamlin.
“I think, the right situation, I’m going to be right there in the top-five with a great shot to win it, but I am working on, how I can improve at all race tracks, but I just think that, yeah, these three set up nicely for us, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t compete at all three of them.”
Outside the race car, there’s no doubt that Hamlin has more than enough on his plate, from his personal life of being a good partner and father, to his ownership responsibilities at 23XI Racing – which remains forefront in the NASCAR headlines with their anti-trust lawsuit against the sanctioning body–to even his obligations on the social front with his weekly podcast Actions Detrimental.
Hamlin, though, doesn’t mind his busy calendar and in fact the three-time Cup Series winner this season insists he thrives on all the obligations and responsibilities – proof be told though when the helmet goes on race day, there’s one focus and that’s doing everything he can to put him back into the Championship 4 picture for the first time in three years.
When asked if he thrives in that environment, Hamlin wasn’t sure, but a busy schedule is all he knows.
“I don’t know if I do better, but it is just what I choose, right? I’m a workaholic in every way, shape and form. It is just what I like to do,” sounded Hamlin.
“I like to set goals and then figure out how the process to achieve those goals, so it is self-inflicted in some instances, but in others, things pile on and you have this going on and that going on, what have you, you just put it in the tackle box, and it is stored away in its own little section. When I have to address it, I go back in there and open up that section of the tackle box and I work on that problem.
“I’d like to think my tackle box is pretty deep, and certainly, got a lot of storage in there. At my age, it is still something that I love to do… there is not a lot that I would like to eliminate from my daily life. As time goes on there is always going to be things that pop up that you just don’t plan for, but it’s how do you react in those situations, and how do you manage them.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
