(Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
LINCOLN, Ala. — All things considered, Denny Hamlin hasn’t gotten off to the start he would have liked in 2023. Although he sits ninth in points, opportunities to capitalize on wins have slipped out of his hands late in races. He has three top 10s, and that number could easily be higher.
On his podcast, Hamlin admitted to intentionally running Ross Chastain into the fence at Phoenix after a failed pit call on old tires. Consequently, NASCAR penalized him 25 points and fined him $50,000.
At Circuit of the Americas, Hamlin got used up on a series of late cautions and ended up with a 16th-place finish. A week later, Hamlin had race-winning speed at Richmond Raceway, but instead, a late caution jumbled up the running order and took him out of winning contention.
Hamlin is hoping to gain momentum after finishing a season-best fourth at Martinsville Speedway last weekend. He’ll start Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway from the pole, the first time he’s earned a superspeedway pole through on-track qualifying. Hamlin started three consecutive Talladega races from the pole in 2020 and 2021 through the pre-set qualifying metric.
“I was well aware this was my first speedway pole,” Hamlin said in a press conference on Saturday. “I think that last year was a great opportunity because I think all the Toyotas qualified really well on the speedways. Kind of nature of the bodies that we submitted to NASCAR so we knew we were going to be fast on these types of race tracks. The body that we submitted this year, I think we got more of a balance and we knew it was going to slow us up on these types of race tracks.
“Everyone is building the very fastest car they can and qualifying exactly what they’re racing. I think it’s a good sign of things to come.”
Although Hamlin will have the premier starting position, he doesn’t necessarily view it as an advantage at a superspeedway. He’ll have track position to kick off the 188-lap, 500-mile event, but said it might not matter with the attrition at drafting tracks.
“If I would have qualified 18th, I would have been just as optimistic,” Hamlin explained. “Qualifying on the pole means that my car is fast and my car will be fast leading. I haven’t been fast in Next Gen era while leading superspeedways so that gives me the confidence that I should be able to lead the pack quickly, which will make it harder to pass us.”
(Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
Hamlin said that he struggles at superspeedways, although his numbers don’t necessarily back that claim. At Talladega alone, he’s won twice, most recently in the fall 2020 race, and has the most top-five finishes of all active drivers (10). Hamlin also has a trio of Daytona 500 victories.
A win on Sunday would be Hamlin’s sixth at a superspeedway and his first in the Next Gen car.
“I haven’t won in Next Gen. I’m working on it,” Hamlin said. “I wish I could go back in time to when you would see three and four wide. All I needed was air disturbed, any kind of air disturbed, I could find any little pocket of air to make my car go. This, you really have to just continue to push whoever is in front and make sure someone’s in line behind you.”
In terms of strength in numbers, Hamlin is at a disadvantage. Because manufacturers tend to work together — and Toyota has just six cars in the field — it will be more difficult for Hamlin to draft. He’ll have his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates — Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. — to work with, as well as his two 23XI Racing drivers in Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.
“You just have to be able to commit to each other, for good or for bad, you’re either all going to be in the same wreck or you’re going to be battling six cars for the win,” Hamlin said. “It will get thinned out through wrecks, we all know that, but for the most part, I think you have to have the mindset of how we can work together. It is power in numbers, especially in Next Gen. Whatever line has the most cars, if one line has nine and one has 10, the line with 10 is going to be faster. You’re going to want to be in that line. In the old days, you could make seven cars beat 10 if you worked it right.
“Being selfish was beneficial until Next Gen – for sure, absolutely. My independence and not wanting to work with teammates, not because I didn’t want to, but they made moves I didn’t necessarily agree with so I just would go rogue and go on my own. I just feel like this Next Gen air in two-by-two racing, you can’t pull out and pass like you used to, by yourself so you have to rely on teammates. We’ve converted our style and I’ve had to change my style.”
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Ross Chastain is the defending winner.
