Friday 5: Denny Hamlin's swagger, confidence mirrors that of Michael Jordan
Denny Hamlin likes to talk smack, likes the banter as he competes, so when fans booed him after his win last weekend at Bristol, Hamlin embraced it with the swagger of Michael Jordan.
“I beat your favorite driver,” Hamlin said as he looked up at the crowd.
Asked by NBC Sports’ Marty Snider who would that be, Hamlin said: “All of them.”
He then walked away.
Hamlin often has looked for ways to fuel his desire for a Cup championship and his detractors might help him get it this year. Fast cars and Jordan also will help.
Few athletes have been so fierce and ruthless in competition as Jordan. For some, the debate on the all-time best basketball player begins and ends with him.
Hamlin was friends with Jordan long before they became partners in 23XI Racing. Being around Jordan, whether on the golf course or in the board room, allowed Hamlin to witness Jordan’s drive in person.
“He’s got such a ferocity,” Hamlin said before the playoffs began of what he can take from Jordan. “He’s a person not trying to be anyone’s friend out there, he’s trying to do what’s best for him and best for his team.
“I think you’ve seen kind of with my driving style lately, I’ve shifted into the more selfish mode.”
Hamlin’s tap knocked Larson out of the lead on the last lap at Kansas, and he forced Larson up into the wall in the final laps at Pocono racing at the front. Hamlin won both races and irked some fans. Hamlin routinely receives among the largest crowd reaction in introductions before a race. It’s more jeers than cheers.
All of this built to last weekend when many fans showed their displeasure with Hamlin’s win. His quip — sharp and concise — was reminiscent of something Kyle Busch would say or carry the sentiment Dale Earnhardt might have made to detractors.
“I got to realize 18 years in that I'm probably not going to win the most popular driver award,” Hamlin said of playing to the crowd.
It’s one thing to want to be popular at age 25, but to be 42 years old and not a champion in the sport, it’s all about winning. While Hamlin is a future Hall of Famer with his 51 Cup victories, being a champion will fulfill his long-sought quest. And he knows his chances are dwindling.
“When you are younger in your 20’s or low 30s, you have so much runway, where if you don’t get it this time, I’ll get it the next,” Hamlin said. “I’ve been very, very fortunate in the financial planning that my team has put together – we never planned past 40 as far as income was concerned, so this is all me telling myself, how many more opportunities will I have?
“I want to compete at a high level in my final year. I don’t want to kind of trickle off. I’m way too competitive to do it. There is no way I could go to the race track not knowing that I could win. I understand there will be a day when things fall off. Things get slower for you. You will never know when that day will come, but now that I’ve been doing it so long — it definitely puts some urgency in years like that, where I have all of the things I need to compete each and every week.
“This could be one of the best shots we’ve had to win it all. You really put an emphasis on it knowing there is only so many total races left.”
Hamlin eggs on Bristol crowd after playoff victory
"Everybody likes a winner" remarks a flippant Denny Hamlin amid a chorus of boos at Bristol Motor Speedway following his Round of 16 win to automatically advance to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series playoffs.
After letting the championship pressure impact him early in his career — he famously lost the 2010 title to Jimmie Johnson after entering the finale with a 15-point lead — Hamlin is more assured. Having yet to win a championship is not a Scarlett Letter that some want to place on his driver’s uniform.
That doesn’t mean he cares any less if he wins the title. He remains focused on the crown, but he’s learned how to handle the pressure, accept that not everyone likes him and enjoy it all.
“I think it’s healthy for him,” Jeff Burton said on the NASCAR on NBC podcast with Nate Ryan. “I thought Denny in the past has been too sensitive to comments and conversations. … Why do you care that somebody wrote an article … just focus, right? I feel like the shift is good for him.
“I feel like this shift of ‘Hey, I’m damn Denny Hamlin and I won 51 races and yep, I haven’t won a championship but I’m damn Denny Hamlin.’ I think that’s good for him. He has confidence in himself."
Hamlin carries the confidence of a Cup champion even though he doesn’t have the title. Yet.
Hamlin 'in another league' after Cup Round of 16
After dominant performances in the Round of 16, Nate Ryan, Parker Kligerman and Kyle Petty debate between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson as the clear favorites for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
2. More work to do
RFK Racing has as many cars in the Round of 12 as Hendrick Motorsports, which has won nine of the last 17 Cup titles.
Chris Buescher’s three wins put him fifth in the standings entering Sunday’s playoff race at Texas (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network). A key to him advancing could be what he does in qualifying.
While RFK Racing, Brad Keselowski and Buescher have seen marked improvement from last year in getting both drivers in the playoffs, one area that has seen little improvement for Buescher is qualifying.
His average starting spot this season is 15.0. His average starting spot at this point last year was 15.5. The deeper in the field he starts, the less chance of scoring stage points, which could be critical to advance if he doesn’t win one of the next three races.
Buescher has started outside the top 10 in 19 of 29 races. In those 19 races, he scored points in the first stage just once.
“I know from a personal side of things, it’s probably one of my weaker spots,” Buescher said of qualifying. “So trying to figure out how to be stronger in that regard.”
While coming from mid-pack or even the back isn’t the end of one’s chances to win — two of Buescher’s wins this season came when he started outside the top 10 — he admits it forces crew chief Scott Graves to be more creative on gaining track position.
At Bristol, Buescher started 20th. While he went on to finish fourth, he did not score points in the first stage.
“Really thought we would be able to drive forward and for whatever reasons, just a complete bottom feeder of a racetrack for an entire stage and unable to make any headway,” Buescher said. “I felt like we gave away a few (points) that we were pretty positive we’d be able to get to the top 10 had it been the same conditions as last year.”
Expectations for Cup Round of 12 opener at Texas
Nate Ryan, Parker Kligerman and Kyle Petty preview the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 opener at Texas, discussing if tire issues will be as common as last year and the impact of this being at 400 miles race.
3. Getting better
Tyler Reddick enters Sunday’s race eighth in the standings, holding what would be the final transfer spot to the next round. He and Brad Keselowski were the only two drivers without significant issues in the first round.
It’s quite a turnaround for Reddick and his team. Mistakes were a constant in the summer.
“We’ve just got to clean up the little details,” Reddick said in July at New Hampshire. “That’s been our biggest fight all year. We’re not making the same mistake twice, but certainly we’ve had a lot of mistakes that just keep happening.”
The summer woes kept him from scoring many playoff points, leaving him near the cutline as the Round of 12 begins. He has a three-point lead on Keselowski and Ross Chastain. Ryan Blaney is six points back and 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace is 14 points from the cutline.
“Having really a disastrous summer, it set us back in a number of ways,” Reddick said this week. “I felt we missed out on opportunities to win, but we gave away so many points that would have easily had us in the top five when the playoffs kicked off.
“It’s all said and done. Nothing we can do about it now. Thankfully, we have speed and that should help us make up that gap if we continue to bring that to the racetrack.”
4. Stage point leaders
With at least five drivers advancing to the next round via points, stage points could be the difference in determining who moves on and who doesn't. Here is a look at how many stage points playoff drivers have scored this season:
252 — Denny Hamlin
248 — William Byron
216 — Kyle Larson
214 — Tyler Reddick
208 — Martin Truex Jr.
201 — Christopher Bell
164 — Brad Keselowski
162 — Ross Chastain
161 — Ryan Blaney
124 — Kyle Busch
111 — Bubba Wallace
87 — Chris Buescher
5. Xfinity playoffs continue
Justin Allgaier secured a spot in the Round of 8 with his victory last weekend at Bristol, moving him closer to a sixth appearance in the championship race. The round continues Saturday at Texas (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).
Those below the cutline after the first of three races in the round are: Jeb Burton (-4 to the cutline), Sam Mayer (-14), Parker Kligerman (-22) and Josh Berry (-24).
Last year, Brandon Jones was 13 points from the cutline after the first race and went on to advance to the Round of 8.
Last year’s Texas race had four playoff drivers finish outside the top 25, tied for second-most in the Xfinity playoffs.
