BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin comes to Bristol Motor Speedway after consecutive victories at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway. He has never won three straight races.
Hamlin now has 56 NASCAR Cup Series victories, 11th all-time. His stated goal is to reach 60 wins, a total that would tie him with Kevin Harvick for 10th on the career list.
Within his immediate grasp is a 57th victory for Joe Gibbs Racing, which would break a tie with Kyle Busch for most by a single driver in the history of that organization.
Given that Hamlin is in his 20th full season with JGR, that mark would be of considerable significance.
“It certainly is special,” Hamlin said Saturday before final Cup practice. “It’s such a historical organization with the championship drivers. I’ve been there longer than anyone else, so that increases my odds.
“There have been a lot of greats that have ran through there, so it is certainly a title I would like to have.”
Hamlin, who will make his 400th consecutive Cup start and 695th overall, could accomplish that goal and win three consecutive races for the first time in Sunday’s Food City 500 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Yeah, but I try not to psych myself out too much about it, because I think you sometimes put so much emphasis on those type of situations and you end up making silly mistakes,” Hamlin said. “I just try to be as even-keeled as I can. It is a new week. It is another great opportunity to win another race.
“If it just so happens that it is three in a row, that would be awesome and a very proud moment in my career, but it’s not something that we set out to do each and every week. We don’t go into the season saying, ‘All right, I want to win, at some point, three in a row this year.
“That’s such a hard thing to do because all of the stars have to align perfectly like we saw last week (at Darlington). They did align perfectly for us. It would be fantastic—some of the greats in our sport have done it, and I haven’t. Just shows how difficult it is.”
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
