Denny Hamlin hopes to add another Martinsville clock to his collection

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—This time last year, Denny Hamlin boasted a career-best 4.8 average finish after the first five races. 

 

With a new contract, the driver of the No. 11 Fed Ex Toyota had plenty of incentive to make a statement run in 2018. 

 

But for the first time in 13 seasons, the  38-year-old racer went winless in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. 

 

Fast forward to Speedweeks in February. With new crew chief Chris Gabehart and his retro Fed Ex paint scheme, Hamlin picked up his second Harley J. Earl trophy after winning the 2018 Daytona 500. 

 

Since then, Hamlin has enjoyed a remarkable average qualifying effort of fifth and hasn’t finished worse than 11th this year. And this weekend, the Chesterfield, Va.-native returns to one of his favorite tracks—Martinsville Speedway. 

 

“I love going there,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, we had some great runs there last year. We led a lot of laps (111) there in the spring. We were a couple of feet from winning in the fall.

 

“I look forward to going to Martinsville every time. It’s one of my best tracks. With the strong runs we had last year, I’m pretty optimistic that we can go there and be good.”

 

Although Hamlin has a better average finish at Darlington Raceway, his five wins and 13 top-five finishes at Martinsville are the most at any track he’s raced. The only active driver with more wins than Hamlin at the half-mile paperclip-shaped track is Jimmie Johnson with nine.

 

Although he finished 12th last spring, after Joey Logano pulled the bump-and-run on Martin Truex Jr., in the fall, Hamlin nearly caught the No. 22 Ford for the win. He finished second, just .107-seconds behind Logano. 

 

Even with the new aerodynamic package that NASCAR introduced this season, Hamlin expects just a handful of drivers to be competitive in Sunday’s STP 500. 

 

“There’s really only five guys that are kind of upfront in those races,” Hamlin said. “It doesn’t really change too much from that. It doesn’t matter what the package is or things like that. You always continue to race against the same guys.

 

“There’s a technique there. Somebody different might hit it and be in contention, but ultimately, it’s always the same group.”

 

Over the last decade, Kyle Busch leads all active drivers on short tracks with 17 wins between Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond. Hamlin is second with eight. Jimmie Johnson has seven wins between Martinsville and Bristol. Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski have also won at each of the three short tracks in the last 10 years. 

 

But Hamlin’s greatest competition could come from one of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. He acknowledges that since he opened up his playbook and shared his Martinsville technique with other JGR racers, it has expedited their learning curves. Certainly, Kyle Busch is on a roll. He has won the last two races and has two victories at Martinsville. Although Truex is the only NASCAR champion still racing on the Cup circuit without a win on a track of a mile or shorter, he came close to scoring his first Martinsville win last fall. Truex led 18 laps and was on the point until Logano moved him out the lead in the final turn. He gathered up his car and finished third behind Logano and Hamlin. He’s entering this weekend determined to settle “unfinished business”.

 

But Hamlin still has a ton of confidence and a secret weapon entering this weekend. Although Gabehart is his fifth crew chief in 14 years, Hamlin likes partnering with a crew chief that shares a similar background.

 

“I’m excited where I’m at with Chris and the mindset he has at these race tracks and the strategy he likes to pull. He’s really smart—and a short track guy. And this is the first true short track that we’ll get to work together.”