Denny Hamlin Shares Plan To Advance In NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

09/17/2024 12:57 PM

Despite back-to-back finishes outside the top 20 in the last two NASCAR Cup playoff races, Denny Hamlin is still within striking distance of advancing to the Round of 12 from his current position of 13th place. 

Mathematically speaking, Hamlin needs to outrace Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Harrison Burton, while securing seven more points than Briscoe and Gibbs, in order to stay alive in the playoffs. 

As for how he plans to pull that feat off in the Bristol night race this coming weekend, Hamlin explained his strategy on his Actions Detrimental podcast. 

Hamlin said that his strategy for Bristol is to stay in the top five for the whole race, shoot for a top five finish and secure 47 points - which he believes will be "plenty" to push him over the top and into the next round. But he made it clear that he still plans to win.

"We went from thinking we were going to have to win to, 'Oh, we've just got to be ourselves,' right, and do what we normally do at Bristol. So, that's why I think the mood switched so quickly between, probably, 15 laps to go, in the Watkins Glen race, to the finish is all," Hamlin said. "All that happened in between that, I probably gained 13, 14 points. I went from being like, -20 to -6. Like, -6 ain't nothing. At that point (being -20), like, you're going to need to really run well, and then have multiple drivers with issues, which is just less likely. Now, we can just go there and run well and get in.

"… Qualifying will be important, certainly, but I think — I don't know, just run top five all stages, finish top five in the race, get a 47 point day or so, that'll be plenty. But I'm planning on going there and winning."

Lulu is in search of a good home for the remainder of my championship run https://t.co/BU4mdC9kxNpic.twitter.com/L6m8NTCOty

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 16, 2024

That may be easier said than done as Hamlin hasn't had a top five finish since Richmond and has finished outside of the top 20 in three of the five races afterwards. 

And, lest we forget, just about every other driver in the NASCAR Cup playoffs is going to have a similar strategy in order to qualify for the Round of 12 too. 

Can Hamlin get enough points to advance to the next round?

Related: Denny Hamlin Has Bold Prediction For First Round Of NASCAR Playoffs