If you happen to’re seeking to accurately predict the winner of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Collection race on the Pocono Raceway, look no additional than veteran driver Denny Hamlin.
After all, no driver is ever a lock to win a race — simply look to Dale Earnhardt’s historical past with the Daytona 500 — however Hamlin is as a surefire wager as anybody to cross the road first on Sunday.
The all-time wins chief at Pocono, Hamlin has seven victories on the “Difficult Triangle”, and it might’ve been eight if not for disqualification in 2022.
Hamlin’s 2023 victory on the observe did not come with out controversy, as contact between Hamlin and fellow driver Kyle Larson on a late-race restart dominated the weekly information cycle. Nevertheless, evidently Hamlin is at all times not less than able to win at Pocono, whatever the circumstances.
His statistics on the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania observe seem to be they’d belong in a online game – seven wins, 22 top-10s, 15 top-fives and 827 laps led in 34 begins, together with a sweep in his rookie season of 2006. In his first two Cup Collection begins at Pocono, Hamlin gained each the pole place and the race, main a mixed 234 of 400 laps.
Hamlin has two wins on the observe in his final 5 Pocono begins, and if not for the aforementioned disqualification, that quantity could be three. His constant skill to indicate up close to the entrance speaks to each his driving model and his particular approach – no matter it could be – of getting round Pocono.
With Hamlin already being locked into the playoffs through three wins earlier within the season, Hamlin will go for a series-leading fourth win of 2024 on Sunday, as he appears to be like to additional cement himself as the best driver to ever traverse the “Difficult Triangle.”
