"Knowledge certainly plays a factor" - Denny Hamlin on why NASCAR Richmond race favors veterans over newbies

Joe Gibbs racing driver Denny Hamlin drove the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry TRD at Richmond Raceway with victory in sight. However, it was Stewart Hass Racing driver Kevin Harvick who ultimately took the victory.

Hamlin has four Cup victories at Richmond Raceway, the most recent being in April 2022. With four wins at the 34-mile D-shaped track, Hamlin is second only to Kyle Busch, who has six.

Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have dominated short tracks recently. The former has won five short-track races, while the latter took victory at the other three. Speaking to the media, Hamlin stated that race is something that knowledge plays a role in, as does experience. He said:

“Just knowing what you need to feel here in practice versus what you race is something that knowledge certainly plays a factor in an experience plays a factor in I know specifically when I go out there today, I’m going to look for a certain type of field my car needs to work a certain way in the certain part of the corner for me to know that whether it’s a race winning car or not.”

In response to the question about why Richmond appears to prefer veteran drivers over first-time winners, Denny Hamlin said:

“Those are things that you know younger guys would not next experience don’t necessarily have but sometimes you have a young driver with an experienced team that gives them the foresight to look for those things. And that’s where you see some of the young guys like Byron, even though he’s not a rookie, by any means, you know, latches right on and is a contender for to win like he was in the spring.”

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Denny Hamlin has not won a championship despite securing playoff points 15 times

Denny Hamlin has already secured a playoff spot this season. He has participated in the playoffs 15 times, but has yet to win a championship. So far this season, Hamlin has 13 playoff bonus points, five for each of his two wins and one for each of the three times he has finished first in a Cup race stage.

He would have earned five more bonus playoff points with a third victory. However, his car was disqualified at Pocono Raceway for a restricted aerodynamic adjustment revealed during a post-race inspection.

The victory would have been his 49th career victory, tying him with Tony Stewart for 15th all-time. The historic achievement would have been fantastic, but Hamlin claimed that it wasn't his priority.