Denny Hamlin Eager to Catch Up to Championship Leader Kyle Larson

There is just one race left until the playoffs for the NASCAR Cup Series season finally begin. Kyle Larson is sitting pretty at the top of the table, but a highly motivated Denny Hamlin is hoping to chase him down. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is still searching for his first Cup Series win of the season and has not won a Cup title yet.

Speaking after the last race, he said, “I thought we were really fast here. We ran down the leaders from a long way back, we restarted 18th.

“Overall got a good restart on the second to last caution then I tried to make a move on the #24 [William Byron]. He was so concerned with me that he lost the lead. It’s crazy, everyone is kind of just sliding into each other and it’s a decent amount of fun.”

In the end, Hamlin finished the race in fifth place, while Larson ended his race in third. This means that the Hendrick Motorsports driver has increased the points gap a little to Denny Hamlin.

What else did Denny Hamlin say?

The #11 driver later spoke about his approach for next weekend’s race at Daytona. This marks the final race of the regular season and his last chance to snatch the regular season championship. Without a doubt, Hamlin will be targeting his first race win of the season.

He continued, “We’ll just try and get every point that we can. Try to go get the win and do everything we can. The FedEx team has really been strong all year long.”

The driver confessed that he needs all the points that he can get. In other words, he will have to gun for the race win. Denny Hamlin acknowledged that his team have been very strong all year round. Unfortunately, not everything has worked in their favor, be it cautions, strategy, restarts, or any small factors.

Despite this, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has always been in the hunt for wins. Hopefully, for his sake, he finally breaks the 2021 win jinx. On the positive side, even if he does not win at Daytona, he need not worry, as he is still in a position to qualify for the Playoffs.

READ MORE: Watch: What Happened Between Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe at Indianapolis?