Dover Denny

Wurth 400:

Denny Hamlin and the 11 team went to victory lane for the third time (fourth if you count The Clash) of the 2024 campaign on Sunday, winning the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. Hamlin dominated the final stage after taking the lead from and holding off a hard charging Kyle Larson for most of the third stage. While Hamlin was not dominant in the first two thirds of the race, he was a prevalent fixture of the top 10 and pounced at the right time with a great pit stop, restart, and a little luck of other contenders falling out and falling back. Hamlin's third win of the year no doubt cements him as a championship favorite after racking up more playoff points and a hard fought victory.

While air blocking was a main talking point post-race (thanks to Kyle Larson), I am still of the belief the race was a good race. Again, this generation race car works fairly well when tracks have multiple grooves for drivers to move around. Air blocking (or just real blocking) has been a integral part of NASCAR since the beginning; especially in the last 15-20 laps to win the race. You can hate Denny all you want, but he was doing what he needed to win the race (as was Larson) and Denny just did it better on Sunday. I am not sticking up for this generation of race car, it still has a long way to go and I still contest the Xfinity car puts on a better race than the Cup car, but this is the box our drivers have to play in right now and I think they did a great job on Sunday. It was refreshing to see drivers able to pass, able to move around, and able to come through the field. Add in some attrition throughout the race and I was content with the product put out Sunday at Dover. I still want and hope it gets better later this year and beyond, but I have no major complaint from the race.

What impressed me the most on Sunday was two things: one the ability to move to field. When I saw qualifying results I was sure a good day for drivers like Chase Elliott would be a top-15...maybe. Yet drivers with fast cars and excellent pit stops were able to fight through the field and end up with top-10s and top-5s. Two, how Hamlin and the 11 team. As mentioned above, Denny was a good car at the start, probably a great car near the midway point of the race, and ended up the best car and winner come lap 400. Often times with this generation of car we see cars that finish basically where they started the day and we see winners who dominate the race from green flag to checkered flag. But Sunday we had drivers move throughout the field, we saw guys who looked poised to win early and midway, fall back and finish elsewhere in the top-10, and we saw a solid car take advantage of great pitstops and fight all day to take hold of the race late and win. That's a good thing in a race. Moreover, it demonstrates the Denny and the 11 team are championship ready this year. Now, I know we have a long way to go. But there is a confidence and swagger in the 11 camp and Denny Hamlin that makes them dangerous. If others want to contend with them throughout the year, they better pounce real soon on the 11 team.

Next up is the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday at 3 p.m. EST on FS1. Kansas has put on some good races the last few years - expect the Toyotas of 23XI and the Chevy of Kyle Larson to be real contenders for the win this weekend!

Kansas Picks:

Cup = Kyle Larson

Xfinity = OFF

Trucks = Christian Eckes

Header Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography