It seems like Denny Hamlin is indeed cursed. The No. 11 Toyota driver faced multiple wrecks at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and quipped it was due to a curse. And Hamlin’s second showing at the 1.54-mile reconfigured track proved him right. He entered the playoff opener with a solid strategy at hand, calculating his chances closely. But it all ended up in a late-race mashup.

The veteran driver betrayed disappointment in his post-race availability. Yet even while weaving through his misfortune, Hamlin slipped his eagerness for the upcoming races, which would unfold on non-superspeedway tracks.

Denny Hamlin eats the humble pie 

Harboring a strategy does set the pace for you at a race. But for Denny Hamlin, it did not work out. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been a smart draft racer in the past when he sat back and waited to make moves. But after the Quaker State 400 race flagged off, Hamlin was too conservative in taking track position. So even after he started 38th and barely cracked the top ten at any stage, Hamlin’s fortunes did not open up in the end either.

In a post-race interview, Denny Hamlin explained why his prior strategy did not work out. “I thought there would be a bigger wreck, you know. Just trying to play the numbers. Figured there would be more incidences, and there were…there were still some playoff guys and some stuff. But overall, I didn’t care about what anyone else did, just tried to get 20 points, which is a mid to high team finish. Just trying to get through this round, that’s it.” 

And Denny Hamlin contended with a last-lap wreck to get through the round. Entering turn 3, Chase Elliott’s jittery move slammed Ross Chastain into the wall, triggering a pile-up and a multi-car crash involving Harrison Burton and Hamlin. The JGR driver confessed he did not notice it happening. He said, “I didn’t see it. My car just turned sideways and I obviously got hooked there. He also added: “The track gets so logjammed there and the tracks so narrow, it’s really hard to march to the front.” 

This streak of misfortune followed him from the February race, which ironically entangled this Sunday’s winner as well.

Hamlin may be cursed after all

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Contrary to the single wreck fiasco at Quaker State, the Ambetter Health 400 held a way more dire fate for Denny Hamlin. The Atlanta track hurtled three wrecks his way in every stage. Denny Hamlin could negotiate through the first involving former JGR teammate Kyle Busch. The second wreck saw Joey Logano, the Quaker State winner, blocking Chris Buescher and collecting Hamlin in the process. However, the last crash sealed Hamlin’s fate—he made contact with a sliding Chase Briscoe and incurred damage to his right front.

Denny Hamlin lamented about his repetitive misfortune back then. “If you’re gonna play the Powerball, definitely play the 11. It’s gonna hit. The other wreck, the 22 pulled a late block on the 17 on the last lap and frickin’ wrecked himself, the 17 and me. I was top-five again coming to the end of a stage and got nothing out of it. Am I just generally cursed?” 

Now with the second Atlanta race out of the way, Hamlin is looking forward to the following races. He owns a 2016 victory at Watkins Glen and also won this year’s Bristol race in dominant fashion. So Hamlin crossed his fingers: “I don’t know where we’ll finish, but obviously, we gotta go in the next couple of weeks and perform good.”

We can only wait and see how the JGR driver fares in his long-awaited quest for the championship.