With just two races remaining in the regular season of the Cup Series, the focus has shifted to the Chase and who will stand on top at Homestead on Sunday, November 8. Denny Hamlin, one of the favorites to win, recently shed light on the schedule ahead and highlighted two tracks that stand out.
Martinsville and Homestead-Miami Speedway were the two tracks Hamlin spoke about. And overall, he has a good feeling about all 10 venues.
Advertisement
“You can’t always control all the variables, but I would say, you know, if I had to draw a schedule, it’d be as good as it could get for us,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said in an interview at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway ahead of the Dollar Tree 301.
Hamlin is arguably one of the best drivers to have ever raced at Martinsville. He’s won the iconic Grandfather Clock six times, but hasn’t won a playoff (or Chase) race there since 2010. With the track having been part of the postseason schedule for over 20 years, Hamlin spoke about the ‘time and effort’ he will spend working on it.
Homestead, meanwhile, returns to host the Championship race for the first time since 2019. Phoenix then became the venue for the finale through 2025. But now, the track in Miami is back and will host the spectacle not just this year, but the following year too. Hamlin also has plenty of history here, tied with legends Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle for the most Cup Series wins at the track, with three.
Advertisement
These two tracks, the 45-year-old hinted, are ones he feels confident about as he chases his first Cup Series championship.
“I just really worked hard at those tracks, and we really get the payoff, usually when it comes down to the last ten, and hopefully with a little bit of a head start, not much of one we can maintain,” Hamlin added in the same interview at the NHMS.
Currently, Hamlin is No. 1 in the Cup Series standings with 969 points, 115 points ahead of Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. And although it’s not a mathematical certainty, he’s expected to hold on to the top spot after the races at New Hampshire and Daytona.
Under the current format, the driver seeded first in the Chase bubble will start with a 25-point lead over the one behind. The second-place driver, meanwhile, will have a 10-point advantage over the next in line, with the gap then dropping by five points for each subsequent position.
Advertisement
Unlike the previous playoff format, the mid-postseason points reset won’t take that advantage away. So Hamlin appears to be in a great place heading into the Chase, which begins with the Cook Out Southern 500 in Darlington on September 6.
For now, though, the target is to build on his lead in New Hampshire. Hamlin last won a Cup Series race here in 2017 and has a total of three victories. The No. 11 Toyota will start from 4th on the grid.
Trending Articles
The post “If I Had to Draw a Schedule”- Denny Hamlin Reveals Key Racetracks That Hold Key to Long-Awaited Cup Title appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
