In recent years, Denny Hamlin has used September NASCAR races in his home state of Virginia to limber up for the Sprint Cup playoffs.
This year, Hamlin had better be limber when he gets to Richmond International Raceway because for the first time since 2008, the native of Chesterfield is not enjoying the warm comfort of a secured playoff berth on the final weekend of the non-Chase portion of the Cup schedule.
Pondering that fact earlier in the week, Hamlin said of Richmond and the Wonderful Pistachios 400, “We need to go out there next week and get a solid finish and try to win.”
Hamlin’s situation vis a vis the Chase for the Sprint Cup and its new, wild card-enhanced system for entry, is not dire. But barring that win that he says he needs, it is complicated and dependent on the actions of others.
What Hamlin — 12th in points, 42 behind current 10th-place driver Tony Stewart and, hence, most likely eligible for Chase inclusion only by way of one of two wild-card berths — must do at the end of Saturday night’s race, is be ahead of all one-win drivers and also hope there are no two-win drivers inside the top 20 in points.
Then again, if three-race-winner and current 11th-place driver Brad Keselowski jumps into the top 10, Hamlin still could make the Chase if there is a two-win driver from 11th to 20th as long as he’s higher in points than any other one-win driver.
Complicated for sure. Which is why Hamlin has his sights zeroed in on victory.
“We know we’re in if we win,” he said.
History shows that Hamlin’s hopes for a victory at the flat, three-quarter-mile oval are far less distant than most others in Saturday’s field.
Especially at this time of year.
Hamlin won the past two September races at Richmond International in dominating fashion. He finished third there in the fall of 2008. All three of those years, Hamlin was all but assured a Chase berth when the Richmond race started and could use it to build for the playoffs.
“You look at the years where we won Richmond ... it’s been a huge momentum boost for us,” Hamlin said. “It’s like that win came just in time for us when we thought that we didn’t know if we were going to be going into the Chase with good momentum or bad and we up and win that race and the next thing we know, we run well in the Chase from that point forward. I think that Richmond is very important in that aspect and I know it’s worked very well for us as far as being a springboard for running well in the Chase.”
Hamlin hasn’t been too shabby in early-season races at Richmond, either. He has three podiums in six spring races and last April was runner-up to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch there.
Hamlin’s average finish in all 11 Cup races at RIR is 7.5. The only driver with a better average is Busch at 4.9.
But even Busch’s edge there, it seems, can be tied to Hamlin’s success.
“It seems like here lately with giving so much information to our teammate, he’s [Kyle Busch] been the guy we’ve had to kind of harness lately at that track,” Hamlin said.
But on Saturday night, it will not be Busch whom Hamlin will have his eyes on. It will be 13 drivers who could possibly come between him and a sixth straight Chase berth.
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