"This is a win" - NASCAR Insiders weigh in on Denny Hamlin's finish at Watkins Glen amid 'an absolute implosion'

Denny Hamlin finished outside the top 20 for the second playoff race in a row. Entering the playoffs, Hamlin was hit with a massive penalty by NASCAR for an engine violation, leaving him 10 points short of the playoffs. Following a disappointing finish at Atlanta, and another outside top 20 finish at the Glen, it seemed like Hamlin's playoff campaign might be in danger.

But that didn't turn out to be the case as after Watkins Glen, despite finishing 23rd, Denny Hamlin was only 6 points out in the standings. This was something that NASCAR journalists Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck recently discussed on the Teardown.

Gluck spoke about Hamlin's playoff campaign seemingly crumbling at Watkins Glen when he lost a lap while making repairs, eventually got it back, then spun on lap 48, and then got involved in the Brad Keselowski-Kyle Larson incident.

"Either way, even more damage, just totally bad. And you're just like, talk about an implosion, an absolute implosion, for this team that has shown so much speed. Yes, they haven't won since April, we still thought they were going to be a championship contender," Gluck said [26:40].

But then suddenly, Gluck noted, things changed for Hamlin. A couple of late-race cautions and an interesting tire strategy by Chris Gabehart allowed the #11 driver to capitalize on any late-race surge, which is what happened. And instead of being left with a must-win situation and close to 20 points out, Hamlin finished 23rd with only 6 points out, heading into a track where he won the last two races.

Bianchi's thoughts on Hamlin were further amplified by Jordan Bianchi, who said:

"As bad as it could get, he's only 6 points out. This is a win [...] As bad as Atlanta was, as bad as Watkins Glen was, you're only 6 points out going to your one of, if not your best racetracks, where you're very likely going to get stage points. You're going to be a factor in the outcome of the win. This is a huge sigh of relief" [28:04].

Bianchi added that on their way home, the #11 team must be feeling a big weight off their shoulders. Because given the way things have been for them, being -6 was "a huge win".

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Denny Hamlin heads into Bristol, one of his strongest racetracks

Heading into Bristol, Denny Hamlin is currrently 13th in the playoff standings, only 6 points below the cutline for the Round of 12. And Bristol is a racetrack Hamlin has enjoyed a lot of success at.

Hamlin has won four times at Bristol, and more notably, the last two Bristol races were both won by the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

And because of his current situation in the standings and his recent history at Bristol, Hamlin said he wasn't in a must-win situation just yet after Watkins Glen.

After the race at Watkins Glen, Hamlin said (via NBC),

"It's not over yet. It's not over till the end of Bristol and obviously, we're going at a track we know how to perform."

With that said, it'll be interesting to see how Hamlin fares at Bristol next Sunday.

While a win or a solid-enough result will see him through to the Round of 12, a bad race will see him crash out of the playoffs in the first round.