Did you know? Back when NASCAR was formed, there was no such thing as pit stops. In the early 50s, most races were short 100-mile affairs, but there was the Southern 500 race at Darlington, which often forced the teams to make repairs due to crashes and race-related incidents. By the mid-50s, there came the pneumatic air guns, and despite this technological advancement, the crews needed a minute to change the flat tires on the stock cars.

It’s just mad when you compare the Lakeway Speedway race, where Hall of Famer Herb Thomas was in action on the pit road and last Sunday’s Goodyear 400. From 1 minute to 9.42 seconds, the pit stops are not just a repair mechanism but have become a vital cog in the team’s strategy to win races. Denny Hamlin knows a thing or two about stealing a race win, banking on his crew. It happened last year at the spring Richmond race, and most recently, it came at Darlington Raceway.

“We were kind of resigned to the fact that we were going to run third on that day, and I was happy with that… Then a caution comes out, and the first feeling was, you know, damn… But then when I look and see that there’s not many lap cars between us and the leaders and like, oh well, maybe we’re gonna get off Pitt first. So, things changed pretty quickly in a 10-minute span,” Hamlin pointed out during an interview with SiriusXM.

By no means was the #11 car class of the field last Sunday. That title has to be reserved for William Byron’s #24 car that led 243 laps or Ryan Blaney, who made significant gains in traffic in tough racing conditions and cleared Tyler Reddick with 4 laps to go. But a late race crash by Kyle Larson forced the lead pack to pit, and surprisingly, Hamlin had found his way in fourth spot by this time. And he was content with a top 5 finish to end his day at Darlington.

Another thing that worked out in favor of Denny Hamlin and his team was the loose nut falling off Brad Keselowski’s car in Stage 2. This is when the teams were forced to make a strategy call, and this led to green flag pit cycles after the race went green. From running in 15th to 19th position, Hamlin found his way inside the top 10; meanwhile, Tyler Redick grabbed the lead, and this is where Byron potentially lost the race.

Although Hamlin credited his win to his pit crew and an assist by his rival Kyle Larson, he accepted that he didn’t have the best car on the day. Surprisingly, he even snubbed Byron and stated that it was Ryan Blaney from Team Penske who had the best set-up.

“It’s hard to say, considering [Blaney] led very few [laps] compared to the No. 24. But I think the No. 24 leading that whole race — it wasn’t fake news, but it was like, ‘Yeah, just put them behind someone and let’s see what happens.’ You could just see that the No. 12 was really able to make passes that others couldn’t. So, I thought he had the best car.” The driver said this on the Actions Detrimental podcast.

With two wins in a row, Hamlin is now headed back to a short-track race at Bristol. He might as well go for three consecutive wins and join his teammate Christopher Bell to be the driver to achieve this feat in the Next Gen era. Although there are a few good contenders like Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch who can still Hamlin’s short-track thunder, Kevin Harvick has doubled once again backed the JGR driver.

Kevin Harvick is willing to bet on Denny Hamlin to win at Bristol

“Kings of Martinsville, you know that’s Denny Hamlin,” this is what Harvick said before Hamlin went on to bag his first win of 2025 at the iconic short-track. Although he didn’t win at the half-mile in almost a decade, Harvick was willing to take a bet, and now that another short track is lined up next, his opinion remains the same.

“I’m going with Denny Hamlin,” the former SHR driver said on the Happy Hour podcast. And Harvick has his reason to put his faith in the 3-time Daytona 500 winner. Hamlin is the defending race winner. In last year’s spring event, he led 163 laps and was able to conserve his tires when the rest of the field suffered massively. In fact, in the Gen 7 era, Hamlin hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 at Bristol except for the dirt race. He has two wins, a top 5 and a top 10 in the last six starts, so he is well within the touching distance of making it three wins in a row.

But ass far tire condition goes, the veteran driver feels this weekend’s race won’t be similar to last year’s tire cording event. It has to be noted that last year’s spring race was the return on concrete after two years of dirt racing, and NASCAR also opted to spray Resin in the lower grove over the regular PJ1. So, expectation needs to be in check when comparing this weekend’s race to last year’s strategy-heavy race.