Denny Hamlin explains Homestead strategy amid shaky playoff situation

Denny Hamlin realizes he’s not in the best standing as it pertains to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 following the weekend that was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The veteran wheelman came home P8, but he didn’t capture any stage points. Additionally, coupling his finish with Joey Logano winning the race, Hamlin now finds himself 27 points below the cutline.

All things considered, he’s in a precarious position heading into Homestead-Miami Speedway. Prior to the weekend festivities getting underway in Florida, the veteran took some time to elaborate on what his strategy will be with three races remaining in the 2024 campaign.

“You just really rely on notes from last time you were there, and then you kind of create offsets from, you know, what has progressed in your cars and your setups from a year ago,” Hamlin stated. “Then you put it all on a sheet of paper, and you try to put this Lego piece together in the correct way.

“You do sim work, things like that. You just trust the process. And when you go there, you hope that you’ve hit it.”

Alas, Hamlin’s won at Homestead three times throughout his career, and his championship dreams might hinge on doing it a fourth. He’s not hiding from the pressure, as he’s done throughout the entire season, realizing what needs to be done over the next two weeks.

“There’s a distinct cut-line now. We’re on the other side of it,” Hamlin added. “… If you want to talk about must-win, it’s probably going to be Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, and if you’re going to talk about must-run top three in every stage and the race for the next two weeks, it’s me and [Tyler] Reddick. No exceptions. You must — if you don’t run in the top three every stage, that’s four stages, and the race, there’s no way we make up that kind of ground on [William] Byron, [Kyle] Larson or [Christopher] Bell. That’s assuming, also, that one of them doesn’t have a great week, you know, doesn’t have a great finish.

“So you need some help as well. It’s looking more and more clear on what needs to happen right away.”

Denny Hamlin’s championship outlook has looked bleak before in these playoffs, and the No. 11 team came up big with a massive performance at Bristol. Will they be able to do it again over the next two weeks? It remains to be seen, but don’t put the No. 11 team out to pasture just yet.