“We’ll check in with you after Dover. After we win Dover.” On that note, Denny Hamlin left the Actions Detrimental studio and headed to the Monster Mile at Dover International Speedway to prove his claims. Speaking of which, it only took the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing ace time until qualifying to showcase why he’s considered one of the few NASCAR veterans who continue to ‘walk the talk’.

After securing the sixth starting slot for the Würth 400, Denny Hamlin isn’t just aiming for a top five. With pole-sitter Kyle Busch unsure of RCR’s short-track package, could Hamlin rain on the #8 driver’s parade once again?

Denny Hamlin radiates unbreakable confidence as he prepares to challenge for victory at Dover

As the 2024 season continues to unfold, Denny Hamlin is one of the few veterans who has been winning effortlessly regularly. After securing wins at Bristol and Richmond, the 23XI Racing co-owner is now aiming to take inspiration from his driver Tyler Reddick, and bring home a similar win for JGR at Dover. Although Hamlin called qualifying ‘really hard’ owing to the drastically different grip level, the #11 driver believes little is standing in his way toward reaching Dover’s victory lane.

After commenting on the Actions Detrimental that Hamlin’s favorite for the win was none other than himself, the 43-year-old had made the most of qualifying and slotted closely behind the top five. Despite expecting the Monster Mile to throw some curveballs on race day, the 23XI Racing co-owner shared his optimism with FrontStretch: “Well, it’s a good start to the weekend. I’m just at the point of my career where every week I feel like we can win, so you know.” 

According to Denny Hamlin, the only ones who could spoil the #11 JGR crew’s party were the team themselves. If Hamlin and the pit crew could avoid any antics at Dover, then there isn’t much standing in their way. Hamlin added, “We’re one of those guys that, as long as we don’t beat ourselves, we’re in contention, so this is obviously a good start to that, Dover’s really been a good track to me over the last three years, especially Next-Gen, so I feel as confident as I did on Monday of last week.” 

Although the #11 JGR driver has only won once at Dover in over 33 races, seven top-fives and nine top-tens make a substantial case for Hamlin to add a second win to that tally. But after looking at his previous form at Dover, what has inspired the change in pace for Hamlin at the Monster Mile suddenly?

One of Dover’s all-time greats lends a helping hand to Denny Hamlin

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As Denny Hamlin’s record at Dover reveals that it isn’t one of his best tracks in terms of wins, the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver pointed to two entities that have been of major help. Ever since Chris Gabehart joined Denny Hamlin in 2019, his form at Dover has significantly improved, with his only win there coming in 2020. Even last year, Hamlin and Gabehart took the #11 to a top-five finish at Dover. Still, this newfound pace hasn’t come easy.

Reflecting on the changes he’s had to make alongside Chris Gabehart, Hamlin shared with FrontStretch, “Just an approach difference, you know, studying some of the best drivers here and what they do, you know, trying to adapt my style to that, I think that this track typically doesn’t reward my general style of driving, so I have to change the way I drive to get speed out of it.”

Apart from the driver-turned-crew-chief helping Hamlin change his driving style to suit Dover, Hamlin also revealed that Jimmie Johnson’s expertise helped him out as well. After all, JJ has 17 top-fives and more than twice the wins that Hamlin has at the Monster Mile. As the Legacy Motor Club trains Corey Heim for his Cup debut, it turns out that Hamlin also made the most of Johnson’s experience.

Hamlin concluded, “When you look at Jimmie Johnson and all the wins that he’s got here, I don’t know, I rode onboard with him for probably a thousand laps virtually and so I just studied that and got better and Chris kind of helped me get better at the track.”

With Denny Hamlin pulling out all the stops to ensure he has enough ammunition to back up his grand claims, do you think the JGR star can outwit Kyle Busch and RCR?