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Corey LaJoie discussed Denny Hamlin's chances of marking his 60th NASCAR Cup Series victory this season.
Denny Hamlin emerged victorious in the Food City 500, which was his 52nd race win in the Cup Series Championship since his debut in 2005. While Hamlin is close to marking 60 career race wins, fellow race Corey LaJoie is doubtful if he will achieve it within this season.
Speaking on Stacking Pennies, he stated that it is a difficult target to achieve, also adding that if any driver were to do it, it would be Hamlin.
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"No. Nobody's seen double digits with the Next Gen cars. If any team can do it it's him and that 11 team. They are so strong on pit road, they are so strong on the box, and obviously Denny's locked in right now," LaJoie said.
No driver has achieved 'double-digit' wins with the Next Gen cars, as LaJoie said. These cars debuted in the 2022 season, and are called the Gen-7 cars. While no one has achieved such a high number of wins with these spec cars, William Byron did manage to win six races last season.
Denny Hamlin currently needs eight more wins this season to mark his 60th win, which is a close number to Byron's 2023 statistics.
In his championship-winning 2021 season, Kyle Larson managed to win a total of 10 races, which is around the same number of wins that Denny Hamlin needs to aim for (9).
Denny Hamlin talks about tire issue on NASCAR's horsepower debate
Many drivers on the current NASCAR grid have demanded more horsepower in the cars to provide stronger racing and a more powerful engine. The Next Gen cars currently run on 650 horsepower. While the authorities do not seem interested in the same because of issues that might come along with it, Kyle Larson earlier revealed that it is possible to tune the current engines to run at 1000hp.
After winning the Food City 500 at Bristol, Denny Hamlin talked about the grip issues that the drivers faced on the track. He took the opportunity to talk about the current demands that the drivers have about more power, stating that it could affect the grip further. He said:
"I've always kind of stood on the side of Goodyears in a tough position, because, they don't want to have tire failures at the racetracks. The teams push them to have to build a tough tire because they try to get the car as fast as they can."
"I do think that Goodyears are in a really really tough box to make a really durable tire that doesn't make them look bad and have them do all the things that NASCAR wants them to do. You're asking a lot out of them," Hamlin added.
