(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
LONG POND, Pa. — Denny Hamlin has had one of the more interesting NASCAR Cup Series seasons in 2022. Through 20 races, he’s 19th in points, but two victories have him safely in the playoffs.
On Sunday, Hamlin will look to better his win total at a very familiar Pocono Raceway. In 32 starts, Hamlin has six victories, the most of any track in his storied career.
“It’s going to be a track position race,” Hamlin said during a media conference. “I think the car that’s leading will be significantly faster than anyone else in the field just because of the better air… it’s kind of two grooves and so there’s not a lot of room on the track for the air to escape. The further you are up front, the faster your car is going to run.”
Throughout Hamlin’s peculiar season, he’s struggled with consistency. Hamlin opened the 2022 season with six consecutive finishes of 13th or worse before winning his hometown race at Richmond Raceway. He then picked up just one top 10 in the next six races before winning his first Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Since his last victory, Hamlin has picked up sixth-place finishes at Nashville Superspeedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But, he feels the whole team has room for improvement to gear up for a deep playoff run.
(Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
“Just execution, honestly,” Hamlin remarked. “Last season by this time, I think we had like 13 or 14 green races, which means nothing detrimental to our day happened. I think we have three this year, so it’s not good at all. That’s really what we’re trying to shore up.”
Meanwhile, Hamlin’s 23XI Racing is fresh off one of its best weekends as an organization. Last weekend at New Hampshire, Bubba Wallace finished third while Kurt Busch finished 10th after a late strategy pitstop.
“That was a good sign for us,” Hamlin said. “Short tracks and road courses have been big challenges for all the Toyotas, and to see those starting to change and be good, that’s a good sign.”
To begin his quest for another victory at “The Tricky Triangle,” Hamlin will have the best view in racing on the initial start — a pole position. Hamlin set the fastest time in Group B qualifying and followed it up by pacing the final round with teammate Kyle Busch lined up behind him.
“I was thinking the whole time that probably wasn’t a poll-winning lap,” Hamlin said on his lap in the final round. “It certainly didn’t feel as good as the first one. But usually, when you have to push your car to go faster, it’s not going to feel as good. So it probably made sense in the long run.”
But, if he can’t snag a victory at Pocono, Hamlin will have a chance for redemption next weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Last season, he led on a green-white-checkered attempt before Chase Briscoe spun him battling for the win.
“I like that road course, it’s pretty smooth,” Hamlin said. “I prepare for road courses a little bit more than I do for oval simply because I’m not as good at them. Hopefully, we take strides to be even better than what we were last year.”
Sunday’s M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on USA Network. Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch won races in last year’s doubleheader at the track.
