“Bristol, yeah, I mean I wish we had the same kind of Bristol that we had last spring, but that’s not going to happen!” This was Denny Hamlin downplaying his chances to go for back-to-back wins at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Last year’s race was indeed unique, as excess tire wear forced the field into green lap pit stops, and this, in turn, led the cream rise to the top. The likes of Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were able to navigate their way through the challenges, while the rest of the field were struggling with flat tires.
With two wins in a row at Martinsville and Darlington, Denny Hamlin has started hitting his stride with new crew chief Chris Gayle. And, with the return at Thunder Valley lined up, the JGR driver is on the cusp of making NASCAR history. He can become just the second driver to win three races in a row in the Next Gen era; the only driver who has achieved this feat is his teammate, Christopher Bell.
Typically, the short ovals are Hamlin’s bread and butter. Bristol has served him really well. In the Gen 7 era, he had two wins and two top-10 runs, excluding the dirt races. So he should be prime and loaded for the three-peat, right? But he’s not getting too far ahead of himself and explained how he’s going to tackle the challenges at the Last Great Colosseum.
“I’ve always thought that the driver and the car have a 50-50 share of responsibility in it,” said Denny Hamlin while speaking to Sports on Prime. “I think everyone came here thinking we’re going all out, but maybe that’s not the case. I don’t know. Everything looks the same, I wouldn’t have expected it; the formula is striking again. There’s marbles up top, obviously, the bottom is where you want to be, and tires are wearing out. So it should be fun.”
The overcast weather and the spraying of PJ1 on the corners have done the trick. Without the option tire in play, most of us, including Hamlin, weren’t hoping for a repeat of last year’s race. Remember last year, tires threaded so much that NASCAR allowed the teams to use the additional set of tires. And still, teams were only able to get 45-50 laps on the Goodyear rubber. This is where Hamlin’s skill as the short-track specialist shined as he led 163 of 500 laps, and he was indeed the class of the field.
Does @dennyhamlin get his first ever career 3-peat win out of the 4x @ItsBristolBaby winner? pic.twitter.com/DqmUOTR1ZS
— Sports on Prime (@SportsonPrime) April 12, 2025
“That’s where I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston, Martinsville. Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances.” The JGR driver said this after the win last year. No wonder all the hype is around him now that similar track conditions are predicted to affect racing tomorrow.
And speaking about tire wear, RFK Racing shared an update on the tires after the practice run. The threads on the Goodyear tire were worn out and the marbles off the race car were spread all across the pit road.
Denny Hamlin is on the cusp of making NASCAR history at Bristol
It’s not just the three-peat that is on the line for Hamlin at Bristol this weekend. If he manages to park the No. 11 Toyota Camry in the victory lane, Hamlin will register his 57th Cup Series win, and it would make him the winningest driver in the history of Joe Gibbs Racing. The oldest active Cup Series driver has won pretty much everything there is to win in NASCAR, of course, except for the Bill France Trophy and the Brickyard 500. But to be crowned as the winningest driver at JGR, he will elevate himself into a different league altogether.
The veteran driver understands the gravity of the situation as he heads into this weekend’s race, and he’s trying his best to approach it like any other race event. “I try not to psych myself out too much about it because I think you sometimes put so much emphasis on those types of situations, and then you end up making silly mistakes. I just try to be as even-keeled as I can. It’s a new week. It’s another great opportunity to go win a race. If it just so happens that it is three in a row, that would be awesome and certainly a very proud moment in my career.”
While Hamlin is the clear favorite to win the Food City 500, keep an eye out for drivers like Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and even Kyle Busch. These guys are expected to give Hamlin a run for his money.
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