Racing Insights: Denny Hamlin’s triple play is in the cards at Bristol

Four weeks removed from Christopher Bell winning his third consecutive race, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin has a chance to accomplish the same feat at Bristol Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Bristol weekend schedule

Hamlin already has etched his name as a legend within the sport with 56 career Cup wins and sole possession of 11th place on the all-time wins list. On Sunday, he will make his 400th consecutive Cup Series start. He will do so at a track where he enters as the defending race winner. In 35 career starts at the “Last Great Colosseum,” Hamlin has established himself as one of the best gladiators to conquer the high banks, with five consecutive top-10 finishes at Bristol, including two wins in the last three races there.

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Another victory at Bristol would not only give Joe Gibbs Racing its sixth win in nine races, but it would also make Hamlin the organization’s all-time wins leader, surpassing Kyle Busch. Additionally, it would mark the 30th occurrence in the modern era of a driver winning three consecutive races, with 12 of those instances resulting in a series title that season — and it’s no secret how much the Bill France Cup has eluded Hamlin throughout his illustrious career.

But to get there, Hamlin may need to go through Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson. Read on for the projection.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

KYLE LARSON: Racing Insights forecasts another close battle between Hamlin and Larson. The No. 5 driver comes in as the most recent Bristol winner; he has 1,351 laps led, five stage wins and seven top fives at Bristol in his career. His car looked to be the fastest during Saturday’s practice.

CHRISTOPHER BELL: JGR as a whole has been superb at Bristol, leading 957 of 2,000 laps at the short track since 2022. Bell is one of four drivers to finish every Bristol race in the Next Gen car in the top 10, with three of those four races resulting in finishes of fifth or better.

TY GIBBS: Gibbs netted his first top 10 since Kansas last fall at Darlington last week. While it’s been a slow start to the season, a top-15 finish the week prior at Martinsville signals a turnaround for the No. 54 team. A strong qualifying effort (sixth) jumped Gibbs into the top 10 of the projections.

CARSON HOCEVAR: Hocevar was one of the biggest movers in the projection after practice and qualifying. He jumped six spots to a projected finish of 16th.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE FOOD CITY 500

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.