In more than 60 years of NASCAR Cup Series racing at Bristol Motor Speedway, only four drivers have managed to win three consecutive races at the challenging high-banked short track that races like a superspeedway.
Fred Lorenzen, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Kurt Busch are those drivers who have tamed Bristol on three successive occasions. Of course, Waltrip, the track’s winningest Cup driver with 12 trophies, added four more victories to his Bristol streak, winning an amazing seven times in a row, which is also a record. But that’s a story for another time.
The driver who is in position to join that exclusive group in two weeks at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday night, Sept. 21, is Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin won the 2023 Night Race and then claimed the 2024 Food City 500 at the controls of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing machine. In full disclosure, his recent March win was tainted a bit as NASCAR docked the team points penalties and monetary fines after Toyota admitted it inadvertently failed to follow protocol and send the race-winning engine in for mandatory inspection before prepping it for another race.
The good news? Hamlin gets to keep the Bristol victory on his resume without any asterisks or notations.
Hamlin is also going for his fourth Bass Pro Shops Night Race victory. In addition to 2023, Hamlin also won the NASCAR crown jewel event in 2012 and 2019.
He has been up front most of the NASCAR regular season, earning three victories, nine top-fives and 12 top-10s this season along with four pole positions. In addition to the Food City 500 win, his other two 2024 victories came at Richmond and Dover.
Hamlin entered the NASCAR Playoffs with a handful of prognosticators saying that he’s the one to beat, but after a bit of a stumble in the opening playoff race at Atlanta with a 24th place finish, he dropped from sixth to 11th in the post-season standings.
"I was trying to get 20 points out of the day," Hamlin said of his rough go in the Playoff opener. "That was my goal – just get 20 however we could, obviously, starting in the back didn’t help with that. We did the best we could, and then got in a wreck that probably cost us eight to 10 spots or so.”
He knows he will need to rally at the challenging Watkins Glen road course, and then he will then have another shot to advance in the Round of 12 in the first-round elimination race at Bristol.
Fortunately for Hamlin he seems to have found a bit of a comfort zone at Bristol, if that’s even possible. If it’s going to be his year to win the championship, he will need to make it out of this demanding three-race Round of 16.
“I feel like our chances are as good as anyone,” Hamlin said. “Now, I would say that the 45 (Tyler Reddick), the 20 (Christopher Bell), the 5 (Kyle Larson) have a better chance because they have more Playoff points going into the Playoffs. But, ultimately, we’re one of the very few cars that can win any given week. So, no matter what points position we might find ourselves in, and we will be in a precarious-points position at some point of the Playoffs. We always feel like we can go to the next track and win, so that’s something that only a few cars can do.
“It’s just who knows what can happen. We might have to go to Bristol and win, but if that’s the case, we will.”
A full-feature story about Hamlin’s quest to earn his third consecutive and fifth overall victory at Bristol Motor Speedway written by veteran NASCAR journalist Lee Spencer will be included in the souvenir program for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The program, in Playbill format, will be available to fans in both print and digital versions. The limited print edition will only be available at the track in multiple locations throughout the stadium concourses, including entry gates, ticket stands and guest service locations. The digital version can be viewed or downloaded via the BMS website or BMS social media channels.
America’s Night Race weekend kicks off Thursday, Sept. 19 with Ben Rhodes and defending winner Corey Heim battling for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (8 p.m., FS1, MRN Radio). The rising stars in the ARCA Menards Series, including rising stars William Sawalich and Connor Zilisch and former IndyCar racer Marco Andretti, also will take on the challenging half-mile bullring in the Bush’s Beans 200 as part of a titan Thursday night doubleheader (5 p.m., FS1, MRN Radio).
On Friday, Sparks are sure to fly in the Food City 300, as NASCAR Xfinity Series favorites Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst will be fighting hard alongside Earnhardt Jr. in the Xfinity Series regular season finale (Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m., The CW, PRN Radio).
Finally, the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series will join Hamlin as they take to the track on Saturday for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m., USA Network, PRN Radio), you’ll get to see all of your favorite drivers like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick to name a few, racing hard in the Round of 16 to advance in the first elimination race of the Playoffs.
To purchase tickets, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158. Fans can also purchase tickets at any Food City location through Sept. 13.
