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Image Credits – Imago

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Image Credits – Imago
Joe Gibbs Racing is officially a big threat for the 2025 Cup Series title. Denny Hamlin started the Round of 8 opener with a bang, winning in Las Vegas. His Sin City triumph advanced him automatically to the Championship 4. Then Chase Briscoe excelled in the immediately succeeding week, dodging carnage and mishaps to win in Talladega. But now, Hamlin’s focus is on who will be his team’s lucky rivals.
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Up next is Martinsville Speedway, and the ‘Paperclip’ marks the penultimate race of the 2025 Cup Series season. Naturally, tensions are high, and the anticipation is simmering as this presents the last opportunity for the remaining playoff drivers to advance to Phoenix. According to Denny Hamlin, Rick Hendrick’s drivers look attractive in this regard.
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Denny Hamlin has two frontrunner picks
For Rick Hendrick’s fold, the Talladega episode was one to forget. On lap 52, a multi-car wreck collected Chase Elliott’s race car, which ended up scoring just one point. Then, on the final overtime restart of the Yellawood 500, William Byron and Kyle Larson controlled both lanes. Suddenly, Larson ran out of fuel and allowed Chase Briscoe to slip through. As the field approached the finish line, Byron got spun from inside the top five, losing roughly 20 spots. Yet Denny Hamlin has hopes for Hendrick’s fold.
In a recent episode of ‘Actions Detrimental’, co-host Jared Allen asked which driver would surprise Denny Hamlin the least with a Martinsville win. “The easy answer is Ryan Blaney because he’s done it before,” Hamlin said, alluding to the Team Penske driver’s last two seasons’ trophies. However, the driver who would not surprise Hamlin at all is Rick Hendrick’s stars. “Who am I least surprised? Blaney. Who would I not be surprised? Byron and Elliott,” Hamlin said.
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DARLINGTON, SC – MAY 14: Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Throwback Chevrolet pits during the running of the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Goodyear 400 on May 14, 2023, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, SC.
William Byron is currently 36 points below the elimination cutline, and Chase Elliott is 62 points out. Technically, both are in must-win situations heading into Martinsville. Yet Hamlin has high hopes for them, even though they are up against former Cup champions Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. “I think William has the potential to go sit on the pole and dominate the race and you know it becomes execution at that point. But then I put Chase Elliott right at A, 1A, 1B.” Hamlin continued, “I know that’s not the answer you’re looking for, but I’m telling you, three of the favorites are freaking fifth, seventh, and eighth.”
Denny Hamlin dissected the possibilities of the outliers. At the same time, he rang alarm bells about two competitors above the cutline.
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Warning the JGR fold
While Denny Hamlin talked about Hendrick Motorsports’ chances, his top priorities rest with JGR. And currently, there is a tightly contested battle between a JGR teammate and an HMS rival. Kyle Larson may have run out of fuel in Talladega, but he is very much in the championship conversation. He is 36 points above the cutline, while Christopher Bell is just one point ahead with 37 points. So, if there is a different winner in Martinsville, the unlucky person 4th in points will be eliminated. So Hamlin issued a war call to JGR: “We’ve got to get our s— together at the shop to keep our cars from breaking down.”
Christopher Bell owns 4 victories this season, but he needs to worry about his current rival. That is because Kyle Larson is gearing up for a fight. The HMS star said, “Then kind of got to fight with (Christopher Bell) throughout the night and try to outpoint him. We have a decent Martinsville package, as does everybody in the Round of 8, so it’ll be a fight. Even if I didn’t win, I wish we would have had those 20 spots at least, so that part sucks.” The conviction is stronger because of the Penske drivers: “You’ve got to assume that one of those guys below the cutline is going to win (at Martinsville). They’re all really good there.”
Evidently, the battle is going to be piping hot at Martinsville Speedway. We cannot wait to watch who will advance to challenge Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe in Phoenix.
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