Admittedly, Denny Hamlin has not executed the best on restarts this season, so winning Sunday in a race that was a nail-biter down the stretch certainly made for a satisfying night.
Hamlin led 57 of the 115 laps of the final stage at Nashville Superspeedway but stole the win from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell after a late caution set up a four-lap dash to the finish.
“We had a few [races] where we were the best car this year, and we didn’t win because of restarts,” Hamlin said in his post-race news conference following his second victory of the year. “It felt really good to get one back that we certainly shouldn’t have on speed.
“The 20 [of Bell] had us covered. I think he passed us about three or four times. But I just learned from my mistakes earlier in the season and how I approach restarts.”
Here are my takeaways:
1. Worst To First For Hamlin
Much like the track going from dry to wet to dry, Hamlin went from first to suddenly worst to methodically getting back to first.
Hamlin started from the pole but was penalized for jumping the restart by mashing the throttle well ahead of the restart zone. It was a pretty clear violation of the restart rules for Hamlin, who didn’t question the call at the start of the race, which was delayed by 80 minutes because of rain.
“Usually, as the leader, you can dictate when to go, but it was way too close to Turn 4 and not close enough to the start-finish line,” Hamlin said about restarting well ahead of the zone that is on the frontstretch. “No arguing it or anything like that. It was certainly the right call.”
From there, he just had to be patient over the 300-lap, 400-mile race on the 1.33-mile concrete track. He obviously knows how to rally as he won for the 62nd time in his Cup career.
2. Bell Loses Another One
A week after he could blame the rain, Bell could only blame himself for not winning. He had a better car than Hamlin and was in position to win until a late caution set up the dash to the finish. He could never get clearly ahead of Hamlin as they battled along with JGR teammate Chase Briscoe for the top three spots.
The finishing order ended up being Hamlin-Bell-Briscoe, extending Bell’s winless streak to 21. He has led 398 laps this year without a win.
“I’m just disappointed in myself,” Bell said in a Toyota news release. “[My team] brought a great race car and I didn’t get the job done.”
3. In The Dumps
Nine cars ended up retiring from the race because of damage in accidents (another three were damaged in a crash just past the finish line) and only 15 cars finished on the lead lap in a race filled with wrecks.
It had drivers feeling frustrated, with possibly Bubba Wallace feeling it the most, as he dropped to 15th in the standings, just 34 points ahead of the current playoff bubble.
“I’m tired,” he said in his interview on Prime following his exit. “It’s hard to be in the same boat constantly every week. You’ve got to figure out how to put it behind you and show up. I somehow become the bad guy the days following this, but I’ve got to figure out how to be better and learn from it.
“It’s really hard when you are driving your best and trying to just make progress throughout the race, and you get wiped out.”
4. Impressive SVG
Shane van Gisbergen is known for his road-course dominance but he had a solid day at Nashville with a fifth-place finish.
The race showed he is getting the hang of the ovals.
“I really enjoyed myself,” “van Gisbergen said in a Chevrolet news release. “I learned a lot. I learned to be comfortable moving around in (Turns) 1 and 2, which I’ve never been able to do before.”
4 ½. What’s Next
The NASCAR Cup Series goes to one of the fastest tracks on the circuit as it heads to the 2-mile Michigan Speedway for a 400-mile Sunday afternoon race. ARCA (Friday) and trucks (Saturday), both on FS1, are also on the weekend lineup.
That race could very well be another JGR intra-team battle, but with it being near the homes of Chevrolet and Ford, this race often carries extra emphasis for the teams.
