Denny Hamlin Third in Practice, Ready to Chase First Brickyard 400 Win

Aside from a NASCAR Cup Series championship, there aren't many things that Denny Hamlin has yet to win. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE has 54 career wins in the NASCAR Cup Series and along the way, he's collected the Harley J. Earl trophy, the award handed to the winner of the Daytona 500, three times.

He's snatched victory from the Lady in Black (Darlington Raceway)'s Southern 500 three times. And in 2022, Hamlin finally added the Coca-Cola 600 trophy to his mantle.

There's just one crown jewel left for Hamlin to win, and he's been bitterly close to pulling it off. But still, the prestigious Brickyard 400 eludes the 43-year-old racer.

The Brickyard 400, which returns on Sunday, has been off of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule for the past three seasons as Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASCAR chose to flex out the annual 400-lap contest around the 2.5-mile oval track layout to a 200-mile event at the road course that utilized the infield and portions of the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hamlin says he had no doubt that the Brickyard 400 would return to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, he just wasn't sure if he'd still be around to see it.

"I always thought we were going to come back here one day," Hamlin said during a media scrum session on Friday afternoon. "I just never resigned to the fact that the road course here was going to be a permanent thing. But, you know, I just didn't know how long my career would go at that point. At that time, I was 40."

Three years later, Hamlin sees the carrot of a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway dangling in front of his face, but he knows if he's going to get the job done, he needs to do it sooner rather than later. He doesn't have many opportunities remaining to kiss the yard of bricks.

"I don't have that many chances left. It's less than what's on my hand, I would think," Hamlin admitted. "I mean, you just have to take advantage of every opportunity. 2020 was an enormous opportunity. 2018 was a very underrated opportunity. Brad caught a caution there that was just really untimely for us. But overall, I feel like I've always been in contention here, just never got it done."

As Hamlin and his crew chief Chris Gabehart have unloaded a really fast No. 11 Toyota for this weekend's race, evidenced by his third-fastest lap time in Friday's Brickyard 400 practice, they know they'll have the chance to lay the funk of how they lost this race back in 2020 to bed for good.

In the 2020 edition of the Brickyard 400, Hamlin found himself locked in a duel with Kevin Harvick in the closing laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After jockeying for position all race long, Hamlin took the lead -- seemingly for good -- with 27 laps remaining in the event.

As Harvick attempted to mount a charge, Hamlin continued to keep his foe at bay, and with seven laps to go, it appeared he had the race all sewed up.

With the finish in his sights, the unthinkable happened to Hamlin. He cut a right front tire in Turn 2 with just seven laps remaining, which sent him hard into the outside wall. After sustaining a big hit, the No. 11 machine burst into flames, and Hamlin skidded to a stop in the grass on the inside of Turn 3.

That was his race to win, and Hamlin, who holds crown jewel events in extremely high regard, knows that he had what it took to capture the win in the Brickyard 400. And he knows he's had what it takes multiple times over his career.

Now, he'll get a chance after a three-year hiatus to check the box off at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. If he were to win, Hamlin says it would be up there tied with the Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500 as the second-biggest win of his illustrious career.

"[The win would go] Next to the Southern 500s, I would say," Hamlin ranked a potential win in the Brickyard 400. "Obviously, it doesn't have the same prestige as the [Daytona] 500s, but I just think the Southern 500, and the Brickyard 400 to me is kind of equal in its prestige. We have three of those Southern 500s, so I would say it just puts it right there with that Coke 600 and those Southern 500s."

If Hamlin can score the win on Sunday, it'll likely go a long way toward the driver also securing the NASCAR Cup Series Regular-Season Championship.

With just five races remaining until the Playoffs, Hamlin sits just 20 points behind Chase Elliott for the honor. While he knows it won't be easy to leapfrog Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Tyler Reddick, who currently make up the top three of the point standings, he knows the opportunity is there for the taking.

"We definitely have potential to win it," Hamlin said. "Good tracks coming up for us. It's just going to be a race against execution for ourselves. That'll be the biggest thing. And then obviously, here and Daytona the result will be a be factor as well."

If Hamlin can rally, and make up the 20-point deficit, he'll be in prime position to chase his first NASCAR Cup Series championship this year as well. The regular-season champion gets an additional 15 Playoff Points added to their totals, which carry through all of the rounds of the Playoffs.

Hamlin wants to attain the bonus points, but the driver is not interested in simply points-racing his way there. Hamlin wants to win races, plain and simple.

"It certainly would be beneficial," Hamlin said about winning the Regular-Season championship. "But yeah, I'd love to get as many wins as possible. That's kind of the predicament we were in last week when it came to our strategy. Do we go ahead and take this one point that is a given, or do we go for the win? I told Chris [Gabehart] before the race, whatever it takes to give me the strategy for the win. It's a tough balance that we've got, and it's this format and how it works out. Sometimes you've got to make that choice."

Hamlin has a prime chance to score a win in one of the biggest races in NASCAR this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Photo Credit: Matthew T. Thacker, LAT Images for Toyota Racing