NASCAR
Denny Hamlin Looks for 1st Win of 2018 in Quest for a Darlington Repeat
Perhaps no driver heads to Darlington Raceway for this weekend’s Southern 500 with more pressure than Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran is 1 of 2 active drivers with multiple wins at Darlington, including a season ago. Denny is now looking for his 1st win since then. If he could win this weekend, Denny would join elite company with a Darlington repeat.
Denny’s Darlington Stats
To put it simply, Darlington is one of Denny Hamlin’s best racetracks, and his record backs it up. In 12 career starts at The Track Too Tough to Tame, Denny Hamlin has 7 top 5s, 10 top 10s, 551 laps led, and an average finish of 5.8. This average finish is the best among active drivers, as only Kyle Larson also has a sub-10th place average finish. Hamlin has also completed 100% of the laps in his 12 Darlington races. Denny’s 2 Darlington wins came in 2010, and last year. In the past 3 races at Darlington, Denny has not finished worse than 4th. As a result of this consistency, Las Vegas odds makers have Denny listed at 6-1 in his hunt for a Darlington repeat in 2018.
Besides the ‘Big 3’ drivers, Denny should be considered a favorite to win the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Only a season ago, Denny swept the weekend by winning the Xfinity and Cup races on Labor Day weekend. Denny has a strong chance at a Darlington repeat visit to victory lane.
So far in the 2018 season, Denny Hamlin and the Joe Gibbs Racing 11 team have yet to win. This comes in spite of having teammates Kyle Busch and Erik Jones combining for 7 victories to date. Darlington may just be the track Denny needs to lock him into the Playoffs with a win.
Be sure to catch Denny Hamlin attempt to become only the 14th driver to complete a Darlington repeat with back-to-back wins. The Bojangles Southern 500 will be on Sunday, September 2 at 6 PM EST. Coverage will be on NBCSN, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
