Denny Hamlin: Drivers at Bristol were ‘racing the track,’ not each other

Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway was a tire management race, something seldom seen in the NASCAR Cup Series in the modern day.

The major issue was that no rubber was being laid out on the track. Instead, all of the tire wear was marbling up. Some adapted better than others, including race winner Denny Hamlin, who expertly managed his tires on his way to leading a race-high 163 laps, outlasting Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. to earn the victory.

It was hectic at Bristol for 500 laps, but it wasn’t exactly drivers racing each other particularly hard. Hamlin, speaking on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast after the race, said that drivers were rather “racing the track.”

“Everyone was just trying to manage their own race,” Hamlin said. “It was almost like Darlington where everyone’s just kinda racing the track. Now this is back in the old Darlington before they repaved it, but you’re racing the track. You really were. You’re just trying to hold your line, not get passed but run fast enough to stay in front but not wear out your tires and whoever wanted to make passes would just go to the high line, make a pass and then try to get back down low again. It was a chess game; it really was for 500 laps.”

Denny Hamlin uses experience to win at Bristol

As one of the most experienced drivers in the Cup Series, Hamlin had the upper hand on the field. Add in his prior history of running nearly identical types of races at other short tracks in the past, and it’s hardly a surprise to see Hamlin find himself in victory lane.

“That’s what I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston, Martinsville. Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances. Obviously, the veteran in Martin, he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car, great team,” Hamlin said. “The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them.”

Whereas Hamlin enjoyed the tire management race, Kyle Larson would like to never see one again. Though he finished fifth at Bristol, Larson was blunt in his assessment of the race.

“It was weird and interesting,” Larson said after the race, via Jim Utter of Motorsport. “I thought some rubber was gonna be laid down, but after the second run, we realized that wasn’t going to be the case. I hope I never have to run a race like that again.”