Despite having the pole secured, Denny Hamlin did not have the best times in the longer runs throughout practice. Still, the NASCAR veteran thinks his team can get his car tuned up enough to be the best of the field.
With the Next Gen car, things are closer on the track than ever before. You just never know who is hitting on all the right points, gaining the minor advantage they need to get the job done.
In year three of the Next Gen car, things could be even closer than they were the last two seasons. Denny Hamlin knows his car didn’t have the same speed in practice as it did in qualifying. However, he believes his team has a shot to put him in the best car this afternoon.
“Well we’ve been, I mean I’ve had practices, really over the last two years we’ve been three-tenths off in practice and then we end up racing fifth to tenth,” Hamlin said after qualiyfing, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “So, for yesterday to only be a tenth off it tells me that we shouldn’t be a fifth to tenth place car tomorrow we should be better than that. There was definitely cars better than us, but give my team some time to think about it overnight, we had some dialogue, think about things and how we’re going to adjust, we certainly have the capability of getting there, to being the best.”
Denny Hamlin collected his 41st career pole award yesterday. He is going to lead the Shriners Children’s 500 to the green flag. Then he will try his best to hold onto the lead. Phoenix doesn’t offer great passing opportunities, but it is a long race. A lot can happen between the green and checkered flags.
Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs on the front row
Good news for Denny Hamlin, teammate Ty Gibbs is starting next to him. The young Cup Series driver has been improving over the last year. It feels like that first career win is right around the corner, and so is his first career pole. Gibbs has gotten very good in qualifying.
Another driver I have my eye on is Chase Elliott. He made the final round of qualifying, just one of two Chevys who did. Carson Hocevar, the rookie, was the other bowtie in the top-10. With how well Hendrick has done at Phoenix, I feel like Elliott could have his opportunity here for a win.
Then there are the pair of Stewart-Haas Racing cars, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe are starting P7 and P8, respectively. Briscoe won this race in 2022 after starting P6. Does SHR have things figured out for Phoenix this weekend?
Denny Hamlin is going to have his work cut out for him today. While the aero situation is going to let him block and defend his position on track, at some point speed will play a factor. We will see if he has enough in that Toyota Camry XSE to get the job done.
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