NASCAR weekend preview: Denny Hamlin has another chance to make history

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Jun 14, 2020; Homestead, Florida, USA; Driver Denny Hamlin celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Wilfredo Lee/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Network

Denny Hamlin had a chance to make history in the Daytona 500.

A victory in the Great American Race would have given the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota an unprecedented three straight. Hamlin ran well, sweeping the first two stages, but he was in fifth place when a last-lap caution made a winner of opportunistic Michael McDowell.

As the NASCAR Cup Series heads for Homestead-Miami Speedway for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Hamlin has a shot at another record. With three victories at the 1.5-mile track, he is tied with Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart for most wins at the venue, which has hosted Cup events since 1999.

Boosting his chances, Hamlin expects the season’s first race on an intermediate speedway to run closer to last year’s form than either the Daytona 500 or the Daytona Road Course event, both of which produced first-time winners (McDowell and Christopher Bell). Kevin Harvick led the series with nine Cup victories last year, followed by Hamlin with seven.

“I think it will be more status quo on where we were last year,” Hamlin said. “That doesn’t mean me and Kevin, since it’s a mile-and-a-half, that we are going to dominate. With the mid-tier teams, this is where the resources that they don’t have will come into factor a little bit more.

“I don’t think I would call the 20 car (Bell) mid-tier, and I don’t think I would call the 34 (McDowell) a shock, because we were at a superspeedway. I think the winners list is like, ‘Oh wow, where (are) our superstars?’ but we are about to get into a chunk of the season where you are going to start to see some of your normal winners in the bracket,” Hamlin said.

Also in Hamlin’s favor is his starting spot. With fifth- and third-place finishes and his strength in the stages of the first two races, Hamlin leads the series standings and will start from the pole at Homestead. That’s exactly where Hamlin started last year, when he collected his third win at the track.

In fact, seven of the winners in 22 Homestead-Miami Cup races have started from the front row, three from the pole and four from the second spot. That’s good news for Joey Logano, whose victory at Homestead in 2018 locked up the series championship. Logano starts second on the grid on Sunday.

Nor can you ignore the “rim riders” who have had success running the wall at the 1.5-mile track. Tyler Reddick finished fourth at Homestead last year after claiming back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Series titles by winning at the track. Kyle Larson, notorious for running the wall, has three top-five finishes in seven starts there.

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SANTINO FERRUCCI HAS HARD ACT TO FOLLOW IN XFINITY SERIES DEBUT

Though only 22 years old, Santino Ferrucci already has a long history in motorsports, but none of that experience has come in stock cars.

A professional driver since age 14, Ferrucci spent two years as a test driver for the Haas F1 team before turning to IndyCar full time in 2019. That same year, he finished seventh in the Indianapolis 500 to earn Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2020, he ran fourth in the Indy 500. His only experience in a full-bodied car, however, was a super late model test for Fury Race Cars last year. Nevertheless, Ferrucci will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 26 Toyota in Saturday’s Contender Boats 250 (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Last Saturday, Ty Gibbs won the Xfinity Series race on the Daytona Road Course in his first start in the series, but Gibbs had winning experience in stock cars in the ARCA Menards Series. Ferrucci doesn’t have that luxury.

NASCAR recap: Christopher Bell wins O’Reilly on Daytona infield road course

“It’s tough showing up at Homestead cold turkey,” said Ferrucci, who will compete in the next five Xfinity races. “But my knowledge as a race car driver will always remain from everything I’ve done in my career — how to look at building cars, how to set cars up, my feelings from driving, my knowledge of how to do pit stops, how to race. None of that will go away, which is nice.”

Ferrucci won’t even get a chance to drive the car until Saturday, though he has spent time in the Toyota simulator.

“I’ve only got to sit in the car a bunch of times,” Ferrucci said during a video conference with reporters on Tuesday. “I don’t even have my firesuit yet. It’s kind of a funny process, but we don’t have too many expectations going into Homestead.

“You just want the car to come back in one piece, log some laps for us. We have five in a row, so there’s no sense in throwing away your first race trying to do something spectacular. It’s all about trying to be consistent and building up to it slowly.”

Ty Gibbs won’t be racing at Homestead this week. Another Ty — Ty Dillon — will be behind the wheel of the No. 54 Toyota Supra, assuring that Joe Gibbs Racing will have plenty of firepower. JGR’s Harrison Burton won the first of two races in one Homestead weekend last season, with the schedule compressed after a 10-week hiatus forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Burton’s most formidable competition is likely to come from Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who opened the defense of his 2020 series championship with a victory on the Daytona oval and ran second to Gibbs on the road course. As the current series leader, Cindric will start from the pole in Saturday’s race.

NASCAR Cup Series

What To Watch For:

There have been 22 NASCAR Cup Series races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, one per season since 1999. … A total of 151 different drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick lead the NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway with 20 each. … A total of 14 different drivers have won a Busch Pole Award at Homestead-Miami Speedway, four of the 14 are active this weekend. Denny Hamlin leads the series in poles at Homestead-Miami Speedway with three (2015, 2017, 2018). … A total of 14 different drivers have won at least one NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway; six of 14 are active this weekend. Greg Biffle (2004, 2005, 2006), Tony Stewart (1999, 2000, 2011) and Denny Hamlin (2009, 2013, 2020) lead the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway with three wins each. … Youngest Cup Series Homestead-Miami race winner is Kurt Busch (November 17, 2002 – 24 years, 3 months, 13 days) and the oldest race winner is Bill Elliott (November 11, 2001 – 46 years, 1 month, 3 days). … No driver has scored their first career Cup win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. … Seven different organizations have won in the NASCAR Cup Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway. … Joe Gibbs Racing leads the series in wins at Homestead-Miami with eight victories: Tony Stewart (1999, 2000), Bobby Labonte (2003), Denny Hamlin (2009, 2013, 2020), Kyle Busch (2015, 2019).

NASCAR Xfinity Series

What To Watch For:

There have been 27 NASCAR Xfinity Series races held at Homestead-Miami Speedway. … A total of 348 different drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway; 220 have competed in more than one. Joe Nemechek leads the NASCAR Xfinity Series in starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway with 19. Jeremy Clements leads all active drivers with 14 Homestead-Miami Xfinity starts. … A total of 20 different drivers have won the pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, led by Brad Keselowski, Jeff Green, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Tyler Reddick with two poles each. … A total of 20 different drivers have won at least one race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway, led by Joe Nemechek with three wins (1997, 1999, 2001). … The youngest driver to win an Xfinity race at Homestead-Miami is Harrison Burton (06/13/2020 – 19 years, 8 months, 4 days) and the oldest is Matt Kenseth (11/15/2014 – 42 years, 8 months, 5 days). … Four drivers have scored their first win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway – Kevin Lepage (1996), Kasey Kahne (2003), Regan Smith (2012) and Cole Custer (2017). … A total of 13 different organizations have won in the Xfinity Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Joe Gibbs Racing leads the series in wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway with five victories: Kyle Busch (2009, 2010), Matt Kenseth (2014), Daniel Suarez (2016) and Harrison Burton (2020).

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

What To Watch:

For Next Week: There have been 27 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. … A total of 362 different drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series have made at least one start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; 192 have competed in more than one. … Matt Crafton leads the series in Las Vegas Motor Speedway starts with 23. … A total of 20 different drivers have won the pole at Las Vegas, led by Mike Skinner and Jack Sprague with three poles each. … A total of 22 different drivers have won in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, led by Kyle Busch with three victories (2018, 2019, 2020). … The youngest Camping World Truck race winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is Erik Jones (09/27/2014 – 18 years, 3 months, 28 days) and the oldest is Ron Hornaday Jr (10/15/2011 – 53 years, 3 months, 25 days). … A total of 17 different organizations have won in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, led by Kyle Busch Motorsports with four victories: Kyle Busch (2018, 2019, 2020) and Erik Jones (2014).

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service, special to Field Level Media

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