By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
SAN DIEGO – Over the past 19 years, there have been few drivers to have won three straight NASCAR Cup Series race, but none have been able to do it four consecutive times.
Tyler Reddick came up short earlier this season when he finished eighth at Phoenix Raceway after winning the opening three races.
Fast forward to June, Reddick’s his boss and fellow competitor Denny Hamlin has that opportunity to join a rare club that was last accomplished by Jimmie Johnson.
Of those who’ve won four straight races in the modern era, it’s the who’s who of Hall of Famers. Those who are alongside Johnson are Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Harry Gant and Jeff Gordon.
The road Hamlin’s opportunity stems from winning the last three straight races at Nashville, Michigan and Pocono which rocketed him now to sole possession of ninth on the all-time wins list, surpassing the late Kyle Busch in the process.
For Hamlin to join the fraternity of four-peat winners, he’ll have to do it at NASCAR’s instantaneously treacherous 3.4-mile street course known as the Qualcomm Circuit. All the speculative thoughts of the track’s characteristics nearly lived up as advertised where Hamlin felt nothing stood out to him, including the unsettling hill jump in Turn 1.
The outlier is the grip of the track. Hamlin explained during Friday’s media availability that while he’s pleased with how NASCAR were able to put the track together, it was still a slick circuit.
“The portions of the track that we thought had a lot of grip had the least amount of grip,” Hamlin remarked. “It’s what make this track so unique. Not only the roughness and technical it is with all the corners. Just the different types of ground that you’re driving on.
“It’s a challenge and it challenges all parts of your race car and your body doing one lap around here. It’s going to be really hard to keep this off all the walls for 75 laps.”
The man second in the regular season standings is no stranger to winning at road courses. While rare and eyes will be on the odds-on favorite Shane van Gisbergen, Hamlin won at Watkins Glen and at Mexico City in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series 20 years ago.
When asked about his chances, the 45-year-old mustard a few simple words.
“There’s always a chance. As long as I have a heartbeat,” said Hamlin.
As far as confidence, Hamlin felt good heading to Naval Base Coronado, but there’s plenty of room for improvement, especially in the speed department.
“Like everybody else it feels like there’s a little bit more to get there. I’m optimistic as I would be at any each road course that we go into. Nobody else got extra experience coming here, so whoever can adapt the quickest (will succeed).”
Tire management could play a pivotal role that would bode well for van Gisbergen, something Hamlin noted as one of his strengths that could make the New Zealander tough to beat.
“There’s about two or three sections where I think the bulk of the time seems to be to him. But really, his expertise is the longevity of keeping the tires of his car for extended periods of time,” Hamlin on van Gisbergen.
“With the tire allotment that we have, I think that’s really going to be what his advantage is. We’re going to be forced to go long on tires and I think that’s where he’s going to separate himself from the rest of the field.”
Heading into Sunday’s Anduril 250 (Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET on Prime Video), Hamlin trails Reddick by 19 points. But first, the 39-car Cup field must set a strong qualifying run that’ll determine the starting lineup.
If there’s a moment where Hamlin feels where the action will pick up, it’ll take place Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video).
The gap will continue to lessen pending on adaptability. Something Hamlin intended to do overnight. More so when the set of tires are three that would’ve restricted Hamlin and the other competitors to see the value of having additional track time like the Craftsman Truck Series did by virtue of having two practice sessions.
“That’s where you’re going to see more mistakes than what we saw in practice,” said Hamlin. “We gain five seconds throughout the course of the 50-minute practice session. Everyone gets up to speed at a different pace.
“The great ones at road course racing get up to speed much quicker than the ones that are in the back, but they’ll continue to pick up that pace.”
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