By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Following back-to-back accidents to start the Round of 16, Denny Hamlin‘s title shot was in the red entering Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night.
Despite the pressure on the line, Hamlin stated “it’s not over yet” last Sunday at Watkins Glen.
He was right, as the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota ended fourth in the first elimination race of the playoffs. That was good enough to advance by 15 points.
“Overall, I want to thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with,” Hamlin said. “I was slowly but surely chipping away. I started eighth, then was seventh, sixth. Just every 25-30 laps we just picked off another position.
“Getting to the top two, I wanted to race for the win at that point but just didn’t have the handle at the end to challenge the No. 5 [Kyle Larson]. He was elite.”
Indeed, Larson led 462 of 500 laps, giving anybody a slim chance of sneaking into Victory Lane.
“My aspirations were to win it – but it looked like he was better than all of us. I thought we were really good towards the middle of the stages, and then at the end, got too loose and couldn’t hang onto what we had.
“Overall, top-five day, good stage points – kind of in the mix, just not really as good as we’ve been here the last few times.”
The top-five run ends a rough patch for the veteran in 2024. It’s his first top five since Richmond seven races ago.
Additionally, it gave him 10 top fives for the year, making it the 10th straight season with double-digit top fives.
The result was short of a third straight win at Bristol. And the racing product was a stark difference from that found in the spring when tire wear reigned supreme across 500 laps.
Saturday saw little tire wear, making it difficult to gain ground after an error. Hamlin’s JGR teammate Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. each sped on pit lane, which led to eliminations from the Round of 12 for both drivers.
“We all run the same times, we’re running close to the same cars on a short track,” he said. “The tire didn’t fall off. It either doesn’t last 50 laps or it lasts 200. Certainly, we have to get some consistency with the tires going.
“The cars are equal, the drivers are equal. That’s what you see.”