“I try not to psych myself out too much”: Denny Hamlin’s inches toward a JGR record held only by Kyle Busch
After securing two consecutive wins at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin aims to secure his third win at the upcoming Bristol Motor Speedway. During an interview before the Cup Series final practice session, Hamlin got candid about his expectations of achieving the same feat as his former teammate Kyle Busch.
Hamlin has secured 56 wins in his two-decade-long Cup Series career and desires to reach 60 wins before retiring. He aims to secure his 57th win at Bristol Motor Speedway to tie Busch's record of winning the most races (57) for the team. Additionally, Hamlin has won four events at the 0.533-mile track; his last win came during the 2024 season, making his chances pretty good to secure his 57th win.
Reflecting upon the same, Denny Hamlin claimed the 500-lap Food City 500 is a "special" event and wants to achieve the feat as the oldest driver with the team. He explained (via SpeedwayDigest.com):
"Yeah, but I try not to psych myself out too much about it, because I think you sometimes put so much emphasis on those type of situations and you end up making silly mistakes," Hamlin said. "I just try to be as even-keeled as I can. It is a new week. It is another great opportunity to win another race."
"If it just so happens that it is three in a row, that would be awesome and a very proud moment in my career, but it's not something that we set out to do each and every week. We don't go into the season saying, 'All right, I want to win, at some point, three in a row this year," he added.
Denny Hamlin concluded that the stars have to align perfectly for Joe Gibbs Racing's #11 Toyota Camry XSE team. He cited his unexpected win at Darlington Raceway last weekend as a perfect example. He qualified third and struggled throughout the race, but a quick pit stop and late caution changed the outcome.
The 500-lap and 266.5-mile Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, April 13, 2025. FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM will broadcast the event at 3:00 PM ET.
Joe Gibbs Racing ace Denny Hamlin's pit crew learned a brilliant move for a quick pit spot
Denny Hamlin's crew has mastered a new move to save every 10th of a second during the pits. Earlier this week, Hamlin's jackman, Joel-Alexandre Bouagnon, was featured in an interview with NASCAR analyst Steven Taranto on FS1 and elucidated how he mastered the move.
Bouagnon explained he slings the jack from behind and crosses his hands to make the pit stops quicker for the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver. Further, he mentioned the move was not a piece of cake to learn and took him an "entire season" to master it.
"It's a long process. It's like it took about every bit of the off-season. You know, just every rep you gain a little bit more confidence enough to take out to the track, because, you know, there's a lot of risk out here. But yeah, I'd say about the entire offseason," he said [00:23 onwards].
Denny Hamlin ranks second on the Cup Series points table with 266 points. He secured two wins, five top-10 finishes, and four top-five finishes in eight starts this season. Additionally, he has led 308 laps so far.