Despite having a mediocre playoff run so far in 2024, Denny Hamlin is still afloat in the championship race. Being on the wrong side of the cutline, points certainly aren’t going to be enough to see him through to the next round. So, a win is what the #11 team will be putting their hopes on in these next two races.

In doing so, Hamlin and his team will be relying on NASCAR’s infamous format that awards a one-off win over a consistent run. ‘Win & You’re In is how the drivers see NASCAR Cup racing these days, and a lot of them do not approve of this format. The JGR driver himself has been vocal about this sketchy rule and format. But ironically, he’s glad that this system is still valid in the playoffs, which helps him keep in contention until the very last race in Round of 8.

Denny Hamlin is surprised to see himself contend for the title

The #11 team has become a shadow of their former self after entering the knockout stage of the competition. In the regular season, Hamlin and the team were consistently running up front, leading laps, and looking like a threat every single weekend. But that trend seems to have boiled down in the playoffs; in the seven races so far, Hamlin has only one top 5 finish. Even that came at his favored short track in Bristol.

With just two steps away from the championship glory, Hamlin find a way to lock himself in the championship 4 using the win, and you’re in play card. “Truthfully, as bad as the playoffs have gone for us that we’re in the situation we are with three to go truthfully. It just shows the system and that you all got a chance until that last cutoff race is over with and so it doesn’t matter how far back you are in points; you just gotta find a way to win.” The JGR driver said this ahead of the Homestead race.

This is a huge turnaround given that Hamlin was against this format when the regular season title got away from him at Richmond. Austin Dillon wrecked both him and Joey Logano to claim a controversial win. And Hamlin was one of the vocal voices in highlighting the cracks in the current format. “Obviously, the #3 team is not a top 16 team… Racing nowadays, fuel mileage, this that and the other, one win is too easy to get to like say that.”

It looks like the pressure of the playoffs is getting to Hamlin, and he’s ready to throw basically a kitchen sink in order to make it through to the finale. But the #11 team needs to be error-free in the two races to give Hamlin a genuine shot.

The #11 pit crew needs to be on their toes

The pit crew can make or break a driver’s result of the race. Unfortunately, Denny Hamlin has found himself on the bitter end of the stick when it comes to his pit crew’s output. Last week at Vegas, the #11 car wasn’t up to speed, but the pit crews certainly didn’t help his cause. These mistakes and errors have crept into the #11 camp at the most crucial part of the season. But Hamlin is optimistic about his team bringing out their A-game in the next two races.

“Chris does a really good job of pumping the team up, keeping them motivated, and, you know, getting the best out of them. We all go through these swells where we’re not performing our best and the timing is not ideal right now, but every week is a new week with them. Certainly, I feel optimistic going into this one. We’ve done the work in the week to get better, and we’re going to hopefully perform our best,” Hamlin added.

The good news for Hamlin is that even if he falls short of his target at Homestead, he will have one last shot at the short track at Martinsville Speedway.