Denny Hamlin has recent history on his side at midpoint of Chase

If Denny Hamlin needs encouragement after a lackluster start to the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, he needs to look no further than his own performance in the regular season.

After falling 129 points behind fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick -- who drives for the 23XI Racing team he co-owns with Michael Jordan -- Hamlin won three straight races in June, overtook Reddick and earned top seeding in The Chase.

Over the first five Chase races, Hamlin has lost the 25-point edge he had to start the postseason -- and then some. Currently second in the standings, Hamlin trails Chase leader Kyle Larson by 40 points entering Sunday's Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hamlin's bid for a first series title, however, is far from a lost cause.

"We know it can be done," Hamlin said. "It's a 10-race season. We got a little head start to that, but it's a 10-race season. What happened in the first (26 races) doesn't matter when we come down to these playoffs.

"Anything is possible, and if we go win, we'll take care of the rest."

A late-Chase surge wouldn't be unprecedented. In 2007, Jimmie Johnson won four of the last five Chase races to snatch the title from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. Four years later, Tony Stewart won three of the last four events to catch Carl Edwards and win the series championship in a tiebreaker.