"Am I comfortable? No": Denny Hamlin admits being in a tricky spot following Atlanta, but remains hopeful 

Denny Hamlin found himself in a tricky spot after the first playoff race at Atlanta. The #11 driver's pragmatic points-oriented strategy backfired when he got into a late-race wreck and finished in 24th place.

This meant that Hamlin would be ranked in 11th place heading into Watkins Glen on the playoffs standings, only +2 to the cutline. Because of this, he was asked by his co-host on Actions Detrimental whether he's feeling comfortable for the next two races in the Round of 16.

"Am I comfortable? No. Because certainly I know that some others, things can happen certainly. But I know that the next two tracks, tires are going to be a big thing. At Watkins Glen, we've got a new tire going there that's got seconds of fall off apparently, and if that's the case then you could be at the good end or bad end of that. Then you've got Bristol, you don't know that we're going to have a race like the spring or a race like the fall. Either way we won those two races. So again, if I can just hold myself above water going to Bristol, I feel very confident we're going to go out there and perform well," Hamlin described.

Further speaking about the idea of drivers like Chase Briscoe, -21, being in a must-win territory after Atlanta, Denny Hamlin added:

"It's not must-win until the last playoff race or the last cutoff race. Again, it kind of depends on who you are. He could go out there and have a 45 points day Watkins Glen and I bet he could find himself really close to the cutline. So I don't know think anyone is in a must-win yet. It's a must-run well now, like very good."

Denny Hamlin opens up on his strategy at Atlanta that backfired

Following his 24th-place finish at Atlanta, Denny Hamlin spoke about his strategy being focused on getting more points.

This was something that earned him a lot of flak from fans as well as analyst Kyle Petty. Speaking on his podcast, Hamlin stated that while it wasn't the right strategy, it was the one he wanted to go ahead with, in that particular race.

"I don't know the last time I scored 20 points on a superspeedway race, it's been so long. I'm trying to make it to the next round, I'm trying to get to some of these tracks where team, driver, all those things make a bigger difference. It's not a Russian roulette of whether you get caught up in a wreck or not," Hamlin said.

Addressing the criticisms of Petty, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver pointed towards the existence of data and analytics in modern-day NASCAR.

Hamlin claimed that he was simply trying to use the information at his disposal to make the best decision for his cause in the playoffs with his strategy.