(Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
SONOMA, Calif. — Denny Hamlin isn’t afraid to admit that he typically struggles at road courses.
In 46 starts, Hamlin has just one win at Watkins Glen International in 2016. His average finish of 15.6 is the worst of any track type besides dirt and is without a top 10 in his last seven tries.
However, Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing found something at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, qualifying on the pole with a time of 77.719 seconds, 0.093 seconds quicker than Tyler Reddick. He laid down the quickest time on his third and final lap of the round.
“Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) was trying to get me unbuckled after our last lap in the final round,” Hamlin said in a media conference. “He was like ‘that’s a good day, that’s a good starting spot.’ I just asked him ‘you don’t want me to try again? Maybe I could do it.’ I’m glad we did try again.”
Overall, Toyota has seemed to take a step forward in terms of speed on road courses. After the manufacturer struggled mightily in the first five races in 2022, Christopher Bell broke through with a walk-off victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL to make the Round of 8.
In the first road course race this season, Reddick, who’s in his first season driving for Hamlin’s 23XI Racing team, won at Circuit of the Americas. Two of his three wins with Richard Childress Racing in 2022 came at road courses (Road America and Indianapolis).
“Last year, we were at a pretty big disadvantage at tracks like this, which disadvantage here, gave us an advantage at other tracks,” Hamlin said. “When the cars are so close, when one has an aerodynamic advantage at one spot over another, it is going to be great for one track and bad for another. The way we developed our car was really made to have a big spoiler on it, and when NASCAR and the drivers wanted to reduce the downforce, it made it to where our cars weren’t that good. We got to revamp that this year, and certainly, the whole package it put together more for the Toyotas.
“[Reddick] certainly exposed me and my lack of skills and knew he would. You always want people that challenge you to be better and when Tyler came over here this year, we knew that he was going to be the bar that we were going to have to set ourselves against. When I go to COTA, and I’m in the simulator and well more than a second slower than he is, I just think about how many road courses we have left and how can I cut that down by the time we get to Sonoma. How can I cut it down by the time I get to Chicago? There are different ways, it is a process. You are not just going to wake up overnight and be better.”
(Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
Fifteen races into the 2023 campaign, Hamlin has certainly seen his share of ups and downs. He won at Kansas Speedway in May and is fresh off a runner-up finish at WWT Raceway last weekend.
Before that, Hamlin got intentionally crashed by Chase Elliott in the Coca-Cola 600 and finished 35th. He has four finishes of 20th or worse but also has six top 1os. Hamlin is seventh in points and has struggled to consistently put together complete races.
But with Hamlin on the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, he views strategy a little differently. Like COTA in the spring, NASCAR will not throw the caution for the ends of stages, but will still award points to the top 10 finishers. That will likely alter when teams choose to make pit stops.
“It’s up to me to execute good laps and stay up front. That is going to be the biggest thing – is making sure that I can keep it on track and keep executing laps like I know how to do,” Hamlin said. “With no stage breaks, it allows us to determine our own pit strategy. We are not chasing someone, hopefully. Now if we are, if we get passed by a few cars early, it’s up to us to do a strategy that keeps us in the race, but now you are not having to give up stage points to flip stages which is good.
“I think it is an opportunity for us to come out of here with a pretty good points day, if the driver doesn’t make mistakes.”
In 16 starts at Sonoma, Hamlin has four top fives and seven top 10s. His average finish is 17.9. In 77 combined starts at the 1.99-mile circuit, JGR has won five times.
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Daniel Suarez is the defending winner.
