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Denny Hamlin wins Cook Out 400 pole award at Richmond Raceway

JHby:Jonathan Howard•08/10/24•

Jondean25

Denny Hamlin
Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

For the 43rd time in his career, Denny Hamlin wins the pole award in the NASCAR Cup Series. Hometown driver gets it done at Richmond! Denny was the slowest car to make the final round, and he came out with the pole award.

Denny Hamlin pulled off a somewhat improbable feat. He was the slowest car overall in the final ten. He went out first since he was the fifth fastest in Group A. The following nine drivers, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr., Josh Berry, Chris Buescher, and Christopher Bell all tried and failed to beat his time.

Earlier this season, Hamlin stole the win at Richmond. Today, he stole the pole. Get ready for Sunday night, it’s going to be a blast.

Now, think back to that Richmond race this Spring. Denny Hamlin jumped the restart early over Martin Truex Jr. and took the win in controversial fashion. It even caused Truex to go on a mini-tirade on the track afterward.

Truex will start P2 next to Hamlin this time around. That means we could have a really good rematch between the two teammates. To be honest, neither driver has been great lately. However, Hamlin has consistently had more speed than Truex over the last eight races, even if the finishes haven’t been there.

At this point, I’d put more of my faith into Hamlin and the 11 team. However, Truex Jr. is still a former Cup champion and capable of winning at any moment.

Denny Hamlin setting up a strong run to finish season

Going into Richmond, Denny Hamlin is the odd man out in terms of the regular season championship battle. Kyle Larson leads in the points, Chase Elliott is 10 points behind, Tyler Reddick is 15 behind, and Hamlin is down 43 points to Larson.

So, Hamlin will need four strong races to end the season and hope his opponents have one or two slip-ups. Honestly, it isn’t probable that he will win the regular season championship. But he can make a strong run for it and at least make it mathematically possible going into Darlington.

As for the other three drivers, they have their own agendas. Larson did not make the final round of qualifying. He will have to do a little bit of extra work. Richmond is a long race, 400 laps, lots of time to make moves and get to the front.

Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick are starting in the top-10. Will one of these drivers end up winning tonight? Will Denny Hamlin sweep Richmond and go one to close out the season with 14 weeks of consistently good performances? Hard to say, but at least NASCAR is back after the two weeks off.