Denny Hamlin will lead the sphere to the inexperienced flag in immediately’s Cup race Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC).
Listed here are three issues to look at in immediately’s race:
1. Is Denny Hamlin vs. Kyle Larson a rivalry?
Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have had their share of duels and phone on the monitor. Final week, each crew chief Cliff Daniels and spotter Tyler Monn talked to Larson on the radio about not letting Hamlin benefit from him on the monitor. Larson responded to his spotter with a terse reply.
Hamlin was requested Saturday at Nashville why he has mentioned he doesn’t view his duels with Larson as a rivalry.
“I simply suppose there’s totally different ones, for certain,” Hamlin mentioned. “I believe that there’s rivalries that come from drivers that most likely don’t respect every others and positively they’ve numerous velocity however they don’t like one another. They intentionally run into one another.
“I don’t suppose anybody’s intentionally working into one another (between Hamlin and Larson). Though it does occur. I’ve actually had my errors and he’s been on the dangerous finish of these. Nevertheless it comes from competitors and eager to beat him. He’s one of many guys that, it’s onerous to not say one of the best, of our sport.
Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain each have completed within the high 5 in all three Nashville Cup races and still have a win on the monitor.
“I problem myself extra once I race with him and it occurs usually, it does occur in direction of the entrance as a rule. We all know one another’s driving model, and we do issues round one another that fight passing one another. And that often means these tight quarters positions.
“The simple reply is should you’re quicker than him, simply go move him. It’s simply not that straightforward within the Subsequent Gen automobile. Should you actually need to maintain somebody again, you possibly can. It looks like we’re doing that to one another as a result of it’s so onerous to move the opposite again, and we perceive monitor place means the whole lot.
“You realize, once we attempt to pull a slider, the opposite individual goes to drive in there deeper and ensure you don’t have the room to clear. It’s simply the approach that’s utilized in grime on a regular basis, after they go up there and slide and power the automobile to elevate. And in the event that they don’t elevate, they make contact. And that’s simply one thing that’s advanced in Cup Collection racing the previous few years, actually within the Subsequent Gen period. It’s simply two guys that don’t need to let the opposite previous.”
2. A brand new winner?
There have been 10 totally different winners this season. That leaves six playoff spots through factors presently.
Final yr, Ross Chastain received this race for his first of two vicariates that season.
Josh Berry begins subsequent to Denny Hamlin on the entrance row and desires a win to make the playoffs. No Stewart-Haas Racing automobile is in a playoff spot getting into immediately’s race.
“We’ve led laps at Iowa,” Berry mentioned. “We have been in rivalry on a late restart clearly at New Hampshire. I’m not saying that I really feel like we’re anticipated to or ought to win, however I believe we will.
“I believe our vehicles are getting aggressive sufficient. It would take the suitable sequence of occasions, I assume, however we maintain discovering ourselves on this place, ultimately one thing is gonna occur.”
“It was a simple transition via a very, actually onerous time,” Heather Gibbs mentioned of becoming a member of Joe Gibbs Racing’s administration group after Coy Gibbs’ dying in 2022.
Amongst others who’ve but to win this yr are: Ty Gibbs (beginning eighth), Chris Buescher (ninth), Austin Dillon (eleventh), Alex Bowman (twelfth), Michael McDowell (14th), Carson Hocevar (fifteenth), Noah Gragson (sixteenth) and Martin Truex Jr. (seventeenth), Chase Briscoe (nineteenth) and Chastain (twentieth).
3. Needing a bounce again
William Byron is among the many drivers with a series-high three wins this yr however has completed higher than fifteenth solely as soon as within the final 4 races.
He begins seventh immediately and is seeking to flip issues round.
Kyle Larson has not completed exterior the highest 5 in three races at Nashville Superspeedway.
“I simply have a look at the outcomes as a bit irritating as a result of we’ve been everywhere in the board,” Byron mentioned Saturday at Nashville. “However Iowa (two weeks in the past) was a very good race for us, ending second. I really feel like we simply have to have the ability to present up week in and week out and put collectively these constant weekends; communication-wise, effort-wise and restrict the errors and simply see the place we’re.
“We’re making an attempt to climb the factors ladder. That’s necessary this time of yr. Attempt to get as many bonus factors as we will for the playoffs as a result of there’s form of that seeding via the common season standings. So I simply really feel like if we will get that stage win, race win or advance up the ladder within the factors, that’s actually what the objectives are proper now.”
window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({
appId : '402627290431349',
xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };
(function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));