Denny Hamlin: 'Fords are really strong on short tracks'

While Denny Hamlin has three wins on NASCAR short tracks this season, four depending on how you categorize Dover with its high banks and speeds. However, Hamlin has noticed something in the last few short-track races, the Fords.

Ryan Blaney got the job done at Iowa Speedway. It is no coincidence that he was set to win at Gateway until that fuel error left him without gas as he took the white flag. His teammate Austin Cindric was right there to win in Illinois, though.

Joey Logano won the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. Given the last few short track races, Denny Hamlin has noticed the Fords are very strong on the mile and 3/4-mile tracks.

“One thing that is kinda catching my attention is the Fords are really strong on these short tracks,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “I thought it was just kind of an older pavement, mechanical grip thing that they had hit on. But clearly these three-quarter mile tracks and one-mile tracks, they certainly got some speed.”

Not only did Blaney win at Iowa, four Fords finished in the top-10 in total. At Gateway, it was four more Fords in the top-10 including the Cindric victory. Same story with Logano’s win at North Wilkesboro. More importantly, Ford had five in the top-10 at Phoenix early this season, although Christopher Bell won the race.

Denny Hamlin has been pretty great at the short tracks himself. Wins at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, Bristol, Richmond, and Dover. Hamlin’s worst short-track result came at Iowa last week. Hamlin was P24 with a car that was slow to start and only received more damage in the race itself.

Denny Hamlin has had a rough two weeks

Between blowing an engine on Lap 2 at Sonoma and his rough race at Iowa last week, it has not been a good two-week stretch for the 11 team. Denny Hamlin has three wins and prior to Sonoma, five straight top-5 finishes to lean on. But Joe Gibbs Racing has had trouble lately.

I can’t remember the last time all four JGR cars ran well. It might have been Richmond or sometime around there. At least, it feels that way. Ty Gibbs has been up and down. Same for Christopher Bell. Martin Truex Jr. has more or less disappeared in the last six weeks of the season, at least in final results.

While Hamlin has had a rough two weeks, JGR has struggled, as a whole, for a little longer than that. Yes, they have picked up wins, but only with Bell and Hamlin. Gibbs is still waiting on his first career win and doesn’t look like the driver he was in the first five weeks of the season.

To put the Truex struggle into context, he has an average finish of 22.6 in the last five races. That is a far cry from his earlier performances that put him on top of the points standings for multiple weeks.

Denny Hamlin is smart to pick up on the Ford trend. He should also be aware of the JGR trend. It has been hit or miss among the four teams with Hamlin hitting more often than the others. Will that continue?