Can Denny Hamlin become latest JGR driver to win three Cup Series races in a row?

Lost in the confetti that surrounded Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team following their win Sunday in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington was the prospect of history. 

After winning the last two NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway, Hamlin will go for his third consecutive win at Bristol on April 13, attempting to accomplish a feat not seen since, well, Christopher Bell just four weeks ago. 

Bell won three straight races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas and Phoenix Raceway, becoming the first driver to win three Cup races in a row since Kyle Larson did so in 2021. Now, Bell's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Hamlin has the opportunity to win his third race of the 2025 season. 

JGR has won five of the first eight races of the 2025 season, and Hamlin will be one of the favorites, if not the outright favorite, to win the Food City 500 at Bristol. 

Not only has Bristol been one of Hamlin's best overall tracks, but the veteran driver hasn't finished worse than ninth at Thunder Valley in the four races held on the concrete surface at the half-mile track. That includes wins in the 2023 Bristol Night Race and the 2024 Food City 500, in which Hamlin led a combined 305 laps. 

If Hamlin is indeed in contention for the win at Bristol, his main competitor could be his teammate who won three races in a row earlier in 2025. Like Hamlin, Bell hasn't finished outside of the top-10 at Bristol in the four races there with the Next-Gen car. While his only Bristol win came in the 2023 Bristol dirt race, he's led 359 laps over those four races and won the pole for the 2023 Bristol Night Race. 

Kyle Larson is a two-time winner of the Bristol Night Race, including the most recent iteration in 2024. He and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate in William Byron — the current Cup Series points leader —will likely find themselves near the top of the betting odds later in the week and could find themselves battling Hamlin for the race win. 

In a stacked Cup Series field where his toughest competition may come from the same stable he races out of, it won't be easy for Hamlin to win a third straight race at Bristol — but should he do it, he can be officially coronated as a championship favorite and the most recent driver to win three Cup Series races in a row.