Championship or Bust: Hamlin’s Franken-Car Now Faces Martinsville’s Ultimate Test
Denny Hamlin needs a win like a drowning man needs air.
Denny Hamlin needs a win like a drowning man needs air.
Christian Eckes wanted that victory so badly, it felt like he was determined to ensure no one else stood a chance.
In a tripleheader weekend that will decide the Championship 4 contenders in each of NASCAR’s top three national series, the marquee event is Sunday’s Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
Following a race that featured a track record 33 lead changes – including three different drivers in the final three laps – this Sunday’s final NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway is teed-up to settle a dramatic Championship Four set-up.
Some call it the Reddick line—a daredevil’s lane he picked up in his early days and perfected when he snagged the NASCAR Xfinity title at Homestead-Miami Speedway back in 2019.
An emotional Austin Hill climbed out of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch to celebrate one of the most significant race wins of his burgeoning career.
Denny Hamlin’s three Homestead wins is most in this weekend’s field and a fourth trophy on Sunday would essentially salvage a challenging Playoff run for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
Joey Logano’s victory in last week’s Round of 8 Playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earned him the first automatic bid into the Nov. 10 Championship Four at Phoenix Raceway.
Last week’s Las Vegas runner-up, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell conceded his near miss – by a slight .662-second to Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who gambled and won on fuel strategy – definitely stung.
The regular season championship leaders will start alongside one another on the front row for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 Playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.