Denny Hamlin, driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, has openly assessed his recent performance vulnerabilities, particularly during late-race restarts, while managing his dual responsibilities as an active competitor and co-owner of 23XI Racing.
The 45-year-old veteran identified restarts as the primary obstacle in his pursuit of a first Cup Series championship, despite a strong 20-race stretch.
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“If you look back at the last six or seven races of last year and the first 12 or so this season, this has probably been the best 20-race stretch of my career from a competitive standpoint,” Hamlin said.
“Speed-wise, whenever we're on an oval and turning left, we've been really fast.”
However, Hamlin pointed out that late-race shootouts expose his inability to maintain pace efficiently in the initial laps of a restart.
“The only weakness right now is my restarts.
That's something I need to improve because a lot of these races come down to late shootouts,” he added.
He specifically noted execution errors when starting from the front row compared to deeper fields.
“I wasn't great on restarts when I was up front.
My restarts in the back were really good, but up front I just couldn't quite get through Turns 1 and 2 with the speed that I needed,” Hamlin explained.
Beyond ovals, Hamlin aims to improve on road courses, where rivals like Shane van Gisbergen have dominated recently.
“I also want to keep getting better on road courses. I felt like we were solid at COTA and Watkins Glen.
