Denny Hamlin begins the NASCAR Chase with an opportunity to turn around a disappointing start, kicking off the playoff push this weekend at Kansas Speedway. The experienced driver has finished outside the top seven in three of the first four Chase races, including an eighth-place result at Bristol on Saturday night, where Joey Logano secured the win and Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney collided in the closing laps. Hamlin missed all the excitement Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, never leading the race and finishing eighth after an average night on the fast half-mile.
Hamlin entered the Chase as the top seed but now trails Kyle Larson, the reigning Cup champion, by a single point. His average finish of 11.67 in the first three Chase races—18th at Darlington, ninth at St. Louis, and eighth at Bristol—puts him behind seven other competitors, and he lost the points lead after holding it for 11 consecutive races. The upcoming shift to intermediate tracks, starting with Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, could prove decisive, as Hamlin has excelled on 1.5-mile ovals this season.
Hamlin’s Dominance on Intermediate Tracks
He is the only driver to finish in the top five in all five races on such surfaces, including a victory at Las Vegas, second-place results at Texas and Kansas, and third-place finishes at Charlotte and Chicagoland. His average finish of 2.6 on these tracks ranks highest among Chase drivers, with William Byron second at 6.2. At Kansas, Hamlin leads all winners with four victories and has placed fourth or better in seven of the last eight races there. The Kansas track, hosting its 42nd Cup race, has built a reputation for tight finishes, another plus for the veteran Hamlin.
Kansas Speedway has a reputation for close finishes, an area where Hamlin has performed well. Five of the last seven races at the track were decided within the final two laps, including the closest finish in Cup history in May 2024, when Larson narrowly beat Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds. Hamlin finished fifth in that race, while Larson took second in the spring race at Kansas, where Tyler Reddick passed him for the win on the last lap.
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Challengers’ Momentum and Kansas Weakness
While Hamlin holds a statistical edge, Larson and Logano arrive with strong momentum. Larson finished first at St. Louis and second at Bristol, while Logano took third at St. Louis and won at Bristol. Logano’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, noted the challenges ahead. “We’re coming up to three tracks that probably aren’t our strongest and we wouldn’t pick to go to if we had to choose, but I think what we’ve shown the first three races of this round is that we’re capable of anything.
I’m still optimistic that we can put together some solid performances on these intermediates. Are we going to have winning pace? I don’t know.” In this year’s first race at Kansas, Logano wrestled an ill-handling car all day and finished 30th, two laps behind.
Practice and qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday, with the race set to begin at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. The next two Chase races at Las Vegas and Charlotte will also take place on 1.5-mile tracks, offering Hamlin three chances to regain his lead.
