Denny Hamlin remains unfazed by middling start to The Chase

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The always measured Denny Hamlin hasn’t lost much confidence despite a moderate start to The Chase presented by Mobil 1. After clinching the regular-season championship a full race before the first 26 races wrapped, Hamlin started The Chase with an average finish of 11.7 in the opening three events, ranked eighth-best among championship hopefuls. The No. 11 team has banked 105 points, however, trailing only Kyle Larson (161), Joey Logano (155) and Christopher Bell (139). RELATED: Cup Series standings | Kansas schedule “The [Nos.] 5, 20 and 22, those guys have been up front every week; they are reaping the benefits of running well at the right time and they’ve caught right up,” Hamlin said during a media scrum on Saturday at Kansas Speedway. “We’ve got to put the pedal to the metal.” Between Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin has a best finish of eighth. He led 68 laps in the Southern 500 before the No. 11 crew had a tumbling pit stop to begin the final stage, putting him into the hornets’ nest. It wasn’t five laps after the restart when contact from Michael McDowell sent him into the wall, limping around to an 18th-place effort. Another disappointing pit stop put Hamlin behind in the closing laps at Gateway. With a rash of late yellows sending the race into double overtime, the No. 11 car rallied to ninth after dropping as low as 20th. Hamlin doesn’t believe the No. 11 team lacks speed, but rather that the balance has not been perfect thus far in The Chase. “I think we will get a better indication after this week,” Hamlin said about whether he was concerned about the overall pace he’s shown to open the postseason. “I don’t feel like our speed has been off as much as our balance things. Not being strong on the restarts because of the balance, things like that. I don’t think our speed has gone much of anywhere. “I do think the field, of course, always gets better and faster as the year goes on. But I feel like we have too. It’s a matter of -- we will find out in a few weeks where that stacks up and truly where the field is on speed at this time of the year.” For the first time since Sonoma Raceway in June, Hamlin enters a race weekend without being the top dog in the championship standings. There’s a slight difference, after all, between being the chaser and being the one chased. Earlier this season, Hamlin was on a career heater, winning three consecutive races and overcoming a 129-point deficit to Tyler Reddick in just six races. “When you’re leading, your confidence is always higher,” Hamlin added. “When you are chasing, you are thinking, ‘I’ve got to get it.’ It’s a little different; I’m talking 5, 6%, for me personally, of leading versus not. Credit to the guys who have been up front -- if they are going to continue a 2-point-something average finish, they are going to win, they are going to win it all, I’m not going to be able to answer that.” With a trio of intermediate races on the horizon, the middle portion of The Chase sets up favorably for Hamlin. During the spring, he had finishes of fourth or better at Kansas, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, including his first win of the campaign in Sin City. He's also the defending fall race winner there. Hamlin is banking on having “big points days” the next three weeks, which he classifies as a minimum of 50 points per race. “If we can do that then I’ll feel pretty good with where we’re at,” Hamlin stated. With practice and qualifying getting canceled due to Mother Nature, Hamlin will start sixth for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kansas has been among his best circuits in recent years with eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes in the last 10 tries. He was in position to win the last two races, but came up short in each one as both extended into overtime.