LONG POND, Pa. — Over the last several years, Denny Hamlin’s grown a reputation of consistency and the ability to maximize the most out of a given race.
So that’s why his last five races are seemingly an anomaly.
It’s been since June 3 the last time Hamlin scored a top-10 finish, with different sets of circumstances taking him out of contention each time. At Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, Hamlin blew up two laps into the race. He lacked pace early at Iowa Speedway before eventually getting damage as a part of Kyle Larson’s crash, finishing 24th.
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he struggled in wet-weather conditions over the final 70 laps, also coming home 24th. A week later, he seemed destined for a win at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway, leading with two laps to go before a caution. After three NASCAR Overtime attempts, Hamlin had to pit for fuel and ended up 12th.
Last week at the Chicago Street Course, he got taken out in turn 1 in the closing laps, after he already struggled in the wet.
Surely, he’s ready to leave the last month in the dust.
“It’s been some wonky races,” Hamlin said Saturday at Pocono Raceway. “Just some different finishes for sure where this race track (Pocono) plays out in a more predictable manner than what others have. Surely, weather can be a factor in things like that, but with this track, you typically have an idea of … The best car usually wins here at a higher percentage than at those others.”
If there’s a place for Hamlin to turn around some misfortune, it’s Pocono.
In his future Hall-of-Fame career, the Chesterfield, Va., native has won a track-record seven times, including last year. On a restart with seven laps to go, Hamlin controversially ran Kyle Larson high in turn 1 before ultimately prevailing in a late shootout. The win was the 50th of his career.
A year before, Hamlin took the checkered flag first in a similar way – running Ross Chastain high in turn 1. But both Hamlin and second-place finisher Kyle Busch got disqualified in post-race inspection for a modification to the front fascia of their cars.
His other wins at The Tricky Triangle came in 2006 – when he won both races, including the first of his career – 2009, 2010, 2019 and 2020.
“Just think this track and Indy, for whatever reason, have always been the tell-tale of where your team really stands,” he said. “You have to have such good execution on pit road, your strategy has to be good and you have those three things: low drag, high downforce, high horsepower. Those are the things you have to have to be fast in the Cup Series week in and week out and this track in particular really magnifies it.
“I think I’ve just had a really good team that figures this out and over time, I’ve given them information they’ve needed to build me fast cars. I think it’s just my driving style of being easy in the corner, hard off the corner works when you have these long straightaways.”
Hamlin led NASCAR Cup Series points entering Sonoma, surpassing Larson after he missed the Coca-Cola 600. He now trails him by 42 markers with six races remaining in the regular season.
Is a regular-season title still attainable for the three-time winner in 2024?
“I think unless they have problems, it’ll be tough,” Hamlin said. “But, everyone is struggling to find consistency, right? We were as consistent as anyone for five weeks and now have had five weeks the exact opposite.
“We’ll need help for sure and we’ll need to be as good as we were two months ago, right? As far as execution and finishing positions. It’s very, very possible, but you’re going to need a few stubbed toes here and there.”
Hamlin will start fourth in Sunday’s 160-lapper as he looks for the 55th win of his career.