Agony has been a pattern for Denny Hamlin in the playoffs. In the opening two weeks of the NASCAR community’s most awaited phase of the season, he has fumbled chances of ending up in the victory lane as the winner on both occasions. While a slight miscue on the track cost him a win at Kansas, an unfortunate spin at Darlington sent his plans down the drain.

Despite the setbacks, he has virtually sealed a spot in the playoffs, gathering points in plenty that have propelled him to third place in the standings. However, going by the words of a Hendrick Motorsports legend, if things unfold in a worst-case scenario, Hamlin could lose a place in the final 12.

Denny Hamlin could get very unlucky at Bristol

Things haven’t gone as planned so far for Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was arguably the most dominant in both races, but the win tally continues to stick to zero. The alignment of misfortune in his path could turn out to be pretty decisive for his season.

Kansas is one of the strongest tracks for Hamlin. The #11 driver had won at the track 4 times prior to last Sunday’s race. Had he not put too much focus on Kyle Larson‘s resurgence from the back of the grid on the late restart, high chances were that the number could have increased to 5.

Hendrick Motorsports legend and former crew chief Steve Letarte believes that Denny is comfortable enough to qualify for the next round until things go far south. Speaking on the popular talk show Dirty Mo Dough, Letarte warned:

“It’s going to be a damn knockdown drag out bring your best and fu***g race because who could and Denny, let’s flip to the top. We have two that are locked in, Larson and Reddick. Forget about them. Denny has enough points. He’s fine unless he has a flat tire lap 1, which could happen.”

Co-host Professor backed up Letarte’s reasoning with some statistics which has been his forte to imply that the amount of points Denny has earned currently earns him a safe passage to the list of final 12 drivers. “Historically that many he’s already scored enough points to make it,” added Prof.

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Letarte places his bets on the safer side all the while not ruling out the possibility of things unfolding in the worst manner possible for the 42-year-old veteran.

The Professor names Hamlin and Larson as his top 2 at Bristol

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If one were to be asked to name some of the fastest cars of the 2023 season, high chances are they would name the #11 and Kyle Larson’s #5 Camaro. Both of these cars have shown the reason why they are considered some of the most feared drivers in the sport. Larson displayed his dominance at Darlington, beating Tyler Reddick to the finish line, who again has a car that many drivers in the Cup have dreamed of.

Reddick’s team owner Denny Hamlin on the other hand has ran strong throughout the season. But another driver that enters the good ranks of Letarte and Professor is Hendrick Motorsports #24 William Byron. The HMS driver has been the winningest driver in the regular season with 5 wins to his name.

“So Hamlin, Byron, Keselowski, I think they’re the only ones we didn’t mention. I already have Hamlin and Byron have scored enough points basically to make it,” said Prof, putting his confidence in the 25-year-old speedster.

Letarte on the other hand, can’t hide his excitement to see how the opinions of his co-hosts align with his as he adds another name into the mix. Chris Buescher could be another name that goes under the radar. Having won at Bristol last year in a race that kicked off good things for RFK Racing, he could also be a contender as per Letarte.

“Well, I can’t wait to get to the predictor then because this is where Buescher put RFK on the map again last year.” Replying to his demand, Professor names his two favorites to win the race, saying, “Larson and Hamlin are again the top 2 and by far the 2 favorites.”

A number of names cross the mind when trying to think about a potential winner. But as unpredictable as NASCAR is, it remains a thing of mystery until the action is unveiled this Sunday.

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