Once the checkered flag fell at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday (March 17) evening, everyone wanted to know how Denny Hamlin had conquered The Last Great Coliseum.
Bristol dished up a highly entertaining and unpredictable race where tire management was of the utmost importance.
After a chaotic first half of the race, Hamlin and his teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing emerged as the cars to beat. But during the decisive closing laps, only Martin Truex Jr. was within striking distance of the No. 11.
How did Hamlin and Truex build such an advantage over the rest of the field?
“It’s what I grew up doing here in the short tracks of the whole Mid-Atlantic,” Hamlin said. “South Boston, Martinsville, all those tracks, it’s just what I grew up doing. So, once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances. But, obviously, the veteran in Martin, he knew how to do it as well.”
Truex indeed gave Hamlin all that he could handle.
The two drivers fought their way through heavy traffic as they diced for the lead in the final laps. Truex did get around Hamlin on lap 483 and held the top spot for one frantic circuit until the No. 11 got around the No. 19 for the final time. Still, knowing how to conserve tires was a crucial factor in Truex scoring his best Bristol finish since 2011.
“I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol,” Truex said. “The difference was just coming out of the pits so far behind Denny. I had to use (my tires) up more than him on the last run. And then, the last four, five laps of the race, my right rear was cored.”
Significantly, Hamlin and Truex outlasted their younger teammates, Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell, when the victory was on the line. Gibbs is searching for his first NASCAR Cup Series win and it looked like he was about to earn it on Sunday, leading 137 laps and often appearing to have the fastest car. But the No. 54’s tires fell off hard with about 50 laps to go, and Gibbs lost valuable time to Hamlin and Truex that he never made up. The 21-year-old in his second full-time season will have to try again another week.
Contrast Gibbs’ age and experience level with that of Truex and Hamlin. They were the two oldest drivers in the field on Sunday and have 34 starts each at Bristol, second only to Kyle Busch’s 35 among active drivers. In fact, Truex and Hamlin were two of the four drivers in the race in their 40s. Fellow 40-something A.J….
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