Denny Hamlin will breathe a sigh of relief now that the Round of 12 is finally over. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has had mixed fortunes in the opening six playoff races but somehow escaped unscathed. Having grown up racing on short tracks, the veteran was forced to compete outside his comfort zone by navigating on road courses, which proved to be a stumbling block in his title ambitions. However, his experience eventually prevailed, and Hamlin finished sixth with just four races to go.

Unsurprisingly, the 43-year-old is tempering expectations heading into the Round of Eight. With races at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, and Martinsville on the horizon, Hamlin will need to play to his strengths if he hopes to remain in contention at Phoenix Raceway later this year.

Denny Hamlin hoping to rediscover his form at Las Vegas

It’s a testament to Denny Hamlin’s resilience that he overcame one adversity after another in the opening playoff races and still kept his title hopes alive. At Atlanta, his No. 11 Toyota struggled with handling problems and a last-lap crash forced him to settle for a 24th-place result. Hamlin was involved in yet another wreck in the opening lap at Watkins Glen but made up for his disappointing start with a fourth-place finish at Bristol. Ultimately, the veteran ended up progressing into the Round of Eight for the ninth time in the elimination era and will be cautiously optimistic heading into the upcoming races.

Sharing his mindset going into the upcoming playoff races, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was asked by Jared Allen if he has to enter Victory Lane to keep his title hopes alive. Speaking on the Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin replied, “No, I don’t have to win but I have to run really really well. We have to score stage, we need to qualify well, stage points. We need big days. Next three weeks in a row, big days. But you know, this is a track where Vegas, we at the #11 team we were in a sweet spot there for like two years. Two to three years. Last year and this year, not spectacular. Not like we had been. Every time I went to Vegas from 2019 to 2022, I felt like I had one of the best cars every single time, but we got to hit back on what we had.”

If there’s anything Denny Hamlin has learned through his years of experience at NASCAR’s highest level, it’s that having realistic expectations can go a long way in achieving targets. The 43-year-old’s only win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was in 2021 before the Next-Gen car was introduced. Since then, he hasn’t finished higher than 5th in his last four appearances on the Nevada track. Similarly, Hamlin has secured three wins at Homestead-Miami, but all of them came in the Generation 6 cars while his highest result in the last two years has been seventh.

Finally, Martinsville Speedway is a short track that perfectly matches Hamlin’s strengths. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has finished in the top five thrice in the last four races but has no wins to show for it. Given his record in the upcoming three races, it’s not surprising that the veteran is downplaying expectations of needing a victory while emphasizing the need for consistency to make it to the Championship 4. The elusive Cup Series title has been missing from Denny Hamlin’s CV for almost two decades, and the Florida native will take the path of least resistance to break that streak this year finally.

NASCAR Insider touts Hamlin as favorite in Round of 8

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It’s now or never for Denny Hamlin. The veteran racing driver enters the playoff round eight points below the cutline, knowing that he must step up in upcoming races to keep his title hopes alive. The 43-year-old has a total of eight victories at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, and Martinsville, and according to a prominent NASCAR Insider, the schedule plays to Hamlin’s strengths, which could motivate him to go all guns blazing.

Speaking on ‘The Teardown’ podcast, The Athletic journalist Jordan Bianchi said, “Las Vegas is a traditional mile-and-a-half racetrack, they go to Homestead and then Martinsville. He’s great at all three of these tracks, like legit very good. They have speed, and they don’t have to worry about drafting strategy or anything like that. They don’t have to worry about navigating a road course which Denny will tell you is not his forte and he had to do it in the last two rounds. Like, there’s none of that.”

Denny Hamlin was criticized for being too conservative in the opening playoff race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His crew chief Chris Gabehart will ensure that the strategy in upcoming races forces the No. 11 Toyota driver to go into attack mode and potentially challenge for a victory. If Hamlin does manage to secure a fourth win of the season at this crucial juncture, it would automatically secure his place in the Championship 4. That would not just ease the pressure off his shoulders but also give him time to prepare for Phoenix Raceway, where the ultimate prize will be on the line. Could this finally be the year Hamlin wins the Championship? Time will tell.