The 2023 Cup Series saw Denny Hamlin emerge as the knight in shining armor for pole wins at road courses, clinching three of them—a feat unparalleled by his peers. Yet, ironically, it appears he’d prefer to bid adieu to these very tracks, given the myriad challenges they’ve presented to him.

At the illustrious Watkins Glen, Hamlin soared to the pole position, only to find himself shadowed by McDowell at the finish line, settling for the silver spot. When probed by his astute co-host, Jared Allen, Hamlin peeled back the curtain, shedding light on the Achilles’ heel that marred his races in both Chicago and Watkins Glen.

Denny Hamlin’s road course success stops at winning the pole

Road courses, for Denny Hamlin, have been more of a labyrinthine challenge than any other racing arena. A cursory glance at his performance sheet paints the picture: a 19th-place finish on the Indy road course, a 36th-place conclusion at Sonoma, and a 16th position at COTA this year. Barring his commendable run at Watkins Glen, Hamlin has scarcely breached the top 15 in the current year.

Jared Allen, in a bid to untangle this conundrum, probed deeper. Despite Hamlin’s laudable three pole wins in the 2023 Cup series on these road courses, why does the racer want to get away from them? Hamlin, ever introspective, illuminated a chink in his armor, which he’s keen on mending to master these treacherous tracks.

Outlining his roadmap to excellence, Hamlin remarked, “The first step is putting it all together; second, can you run a fast lap once; and how can you put it together and run consecutive fast laps last? And then, can you turn the course of an entire race? I haven’t got the step 4 yet. But I am working on it. I am getting better.”

He then cast his mind back to Watkins Glen, recalling a defining moment with Michael McDowell. As Hamlin delineated, “On lap 3, he dives there on turn 1, and he kind of just shows me up. If I was to pass, I am damn sure we’d have done the same thing too, but he was ready and I wasn’t. […] I just got to work on the traffic aspect; that’s the next step for me because if I lose a track position, that’s where I seem to really start to struggle.”

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Hamlin’s introspection didn’t end there. He harkened back to the Chicago skirmish—a reminder that road courses, while perplexing, hold valuable lessons. He concluded with a sobering 11th finish there, a testament to the winding journey ahead.

Hamlin maintains that his Chicago race was better than what the results indicate

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Chicago’s road course unfurled its enigmatic challenges, leveling the playing field for veterans and rookies alike, barring the exception of one: the indomitable Shane van Gisbergen. The curveballs thrown by the rain-soaked track, combined with the unfamiliarity many drivers grappled with, cast a shadow on the performances of many seasoned racers, including Hamlin.

Yet Hamlin, ever the competitor, sought to offer clarity amidst the perceived setback. He postulated, “The results that we had at Chicago is not indicative of how we ran. We dominated the first stage, Martin came up past us, I was still doing well, and the race got flipped on us and we lost our track position. That’s what I have got to get better.”

While Hamlin’s introspection provides a window into the race dynamics, it also begs the question: Was this an articulation of the unexpected hurdles Chicago presented, or was it the sting of witnessing an emergent talent like SVG, from the Supercars championship, clinch a victory in his maiden Cup Series race, especially when racing titans like Hamlin couldn’t secure a place in the coveted top 10?

Given Hamlin’s reflections on the Chicago conundrum, Steve Letarte’s quip about “some egos got hurt” might just find resonance. Might Hamlin’s comments indeed be a testament to that bruised pride? Only time and future races will reveal the true narrative.

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