Denny Hamlin looks to expand on Pocono dominance

If you're looking to correctly predict the winner of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at the Pocono Raceway, look no further than veteran driver Denny Hamlin. 

Of course, no driver is ever a lock to win a race — just look to Dale Earnhardt's history with the Daytona 500 — but Hamlin is as a surefire bet as anyone to cross the line first on Sunday. 

The all-time wins leader at Pocono, Hamlin has seven victories at the "Tricky Triangle", and it could've been eight if not for disqualification in 2022. 

Hamlin's 2023 victory at the track didn't come without controversy, as contact between Hamlin and fellow driver Kyle Larson on a late-race restart dominated the weekly news cycle. However, it seems that Hamlin is always at least in a position to win at Pocono, regardless of the circumstances. 

His statistics at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track seem like they would belong in a video game - seven wins, 22 top-10s, 15 top-fives and 827 laps led in 34 starts, including a sweep in his rookie season of 2006. In his first two Cup Series starts at Pocono, Hamlin won both the pole position and the race, leading a combined 234 of 400 laps. 

Hamlin has two wins at the track in his last five Pocono starts, and if not for the aforementioned disqualification, that number would be three. His consistent ability to show up near the front speaks to both his driving style and his special way - whatever it may be - of getting around Pocono. 

With Hamlin already being locked into the playoffs via three wins earlier in the season, Hamlin will go for a series-leading fourth win of 2024 on Sunday, as he looks to further cement himself as the greatest driver to ever traverse the "Tricky Triangle."