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Denny Hamlin shared his playoff prediction ahead of the Martinsville race next weekend. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver believed that the Hendrick Motorsports duo Kyle Larson and William Byron would go all out against each other for the remaining Championship 4 spots in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
NASCAR is all set to host the final Round of 8 races at Martinsville next Sunday. With two spots left in the Championship 4, six drivers are expected to deliver their best performance and fight for the ultimate glory in Phoenix on November 10.
Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick have already qualified for the final round after their respective victories at Las Vegas and Homestead. Christopher Bell, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott are the remaining drivers who would vie for the last two places.
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While the final Round of 8 race is expected to be a fierce one, Hamlin believes the battle between the HMS duo is "going to be a close one." Speaking about this, the #11 driver said in the recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast,
"I tell you, we certainly didn't think especially with the bonus point that the #5 had in the regular season, that he'd be in danger. It's not like he's had a 30th-place finish this round, right? It's just that, you've had a couple of bottom guys win that were below," he said (35:50 onwards).
"And all of a sudden, moved that cutline higher and higher, and now, even Bell, Bell's in a pretty good spot. [But] he needs to have a decent day at Martinsville. But yeah, the #5 is going to have to race the #24 pretty hard in Martinsville, and that's gonna be a close one."
Byron is currently placed in fourth place with +7 points above the cutline, while his teammate, Larson is below the cutline with -7. The #24 driver needs to win at Martinsville or extend his point gap to qualify. Whereas, the #5 driver needs to overcome the point deficit to claim another victory.
Denny Hamlin's Championship 4 berth doubtful following Homestead race
Denny Hamlin is yet to qualify for the Championship 4 at Phoenix. The Joe Gibbs Racing star currently stands in sixth place with -18 points below the cutline and either needs to win a race or cover up his point deficit against Kyle Larson and William Byron to see himself through to the final round.
Speaking about this, Hamlin said that he needed to get better at defending, as playing offensive does not always bear fruit. Recalling his Homestead mistake, and what he needs to do at Martinsville, the #11 Toyota Camry star said,
"I don't know. There's surely something that I could have done different. Being a good defender... I'm not super high on that list. So, need to get better there."
Denny Hamlin finished the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in third place. He came home behind the race winner Tyler Reddick, and Team Penske's Ryan Blaney.
