There’s something amiss in the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Despite having two dominant drivers, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, the racing organization hasn’t registered a win since the race in New Hampshire, Loudon. Now that is indeed a worrying sign for JGR that during the business end of the season, in the playoffs, they aren’t able to park their race cars in the victory lane.

Denny Hamlin is at a deficit of 18 points going into Martinsville, while Bell is holding his own for now with a buffer of 29 points. But Tyler Reddick’s win last weekend at Homestead was a reminder that a points buffer isn’t reliable. Losing out on race-winning speed or setup during the playoffs is a real blow for the JGR drivers. But will this streak of winless races prove detrimental to their championship hopes?

Chris Gabehart is optimistic about JGR’s chances for a win

The problem isn’t that big if you closely look at the performances of the #11 and the #20 Toyota Camry since the New Hampshire race. Hamlin had two runner-up finishes at Pocono and Richmond, while he came in with the clutch P4 finish at Bristol to keep him afloat in the playoffs. Last weekend perhaps was the big disappointment for him as he wasn’t able to hold onto the lead at Homestead and had to settle for a P4 finish.

Bob Pockrass for FOX Sports highlighted the winless streak for Joe Gibbs Racing to Gabehart ahead of the Martinsville race, and this was his response. “It’s just part of the sport; the main thing is your performance; your internal performance metrics are the ones you have to look at and say we’re capable of winning; the situation is just not working itself out. So when those performance metrics are there, that’s the key thing, and you just got to work through it from there.”

Meanwhile, Christopher Bell ideally should’ve locked himself in the final 4. But Joey Logano’s fuel-saving tactics in Las Vegas put him at risk of being eliminated from the playoffs. What’s more baffling is that, in his last ten Cup starts, Bell has finished inside of the top 5 seven times. Perhaps it’s time, lady luck smiled on the two drivers, as this weekend’s race could make or break their season.

Playoffs certainly can be a bit tricky on drivers. The constant pressure of making it through the gruesome format forces drivers to play it safe. While Hamlin finds himself in a similar scenario to break his championship duck, all he wants this weekend is to win the race.

Denny Hamlin is desperate to win at Martinsville

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The short track has always been Hamlin’s strength, and this year two of his three wins came at this track type. But for some reason, he hasn’t been able to conquer the half-mile track since his last win in 2015. Despite being a strong contender to win these races, especially in the fall, he hasn’t been able to convert those good runs into a win.

Although Hamlin is aware of the point scenario that could decide his fate, all he wants this weekend is to win the race. “We dominate the fall races. We led a bazillion laps. It’s just that we’ve already had something keep us from winning there. Me and Chris, we just want to win at Martinsville. Like f**k all the final four and all, that’s great, but like we just want to win there, that’s such a great racetrack. A track that I take a lot of pride in, man want to win it bad.” He said this on Actions Detrimental podcast.

A short track certainly plays right into Hamlin’s strengths, and the new softer Goodyear tire is only going to increase his odds of a good result. With the likes of Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney in a similar situation, it is indeed tough to go all out on a Denny Hamlin win.