Wednesday Hot Lap 9/6/23: Hamlin Re-signs with JGR + Kansas Weekend Preview
Photo: Evan McNelia (Denny Hamlin Phoenix Raceway Spring 2023)
Joe Gibbs Racing locked up its longest-tenured driver on a multi-year extension on Monday, the day after the playoff-opening Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. 2024 will be Denny Hamlin’s 19th full-time season since debuting in the Cup Series with JGR in late 2005. The 3-time Daytona 500 Champion will continue his playoff push with his future plans locked down.
The announcement comes at a time when speculation was at an all-time high around Hamlin’s future with a possible departure from the team on the table. There had been rumors that Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s team 23XI Racing was perhaps heading toward a manufacturer change and had been linked with Ford. This news pretty much kills those rumors as Hamlin is now set to remain with his Toyota-based team which serves as an ally to 23XI.
Hamlin is still chasing his ever-elusive first Championship, but in his 17th playoff appearance this season he and his team remain as hopeful as ever. This week at Kansas Speedway he will be looking to turn it back around after leading the most laps but falling off and finishing 25th at Darlington. The deal being made public this week could help give the 11 team the momentum swing they need heading back to a track they won at earlier this season.
Kansas Preview:
The NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Mendard’s Series will all be racing at Kansas this weekend. It’s the first time since Pocono weekend in late July that all four series have been at the same track at the same time.
While it’s just the second race in the Round of 16 for the Cup Series, this weekend will be the Xfinity’s regular-season finale and the Truck’s Round of 10 cutoff race.
Cup Series:
Kyle Larson became the first driver to lock into the next round with his win at Darlington. But that doesn’t make him a non-threat this week as he’ll look to make it back-to-back wins after finishing runner-up at Kansas in the spring after leading the most laps.
While Larson is secure, the battle near the cutline is tight between some top drivers. 10 drivers are within 20 points on either side of the cut including all four drivers that are beneath and all three Championship 4 drivers remaining from last season.
Team Penske No. 22 driver Joey Logano and JGR No. 20 driver Christopher Bell are the two closest above the line with Logano by three points and Bell by just one. 23XI No. 23 driver Bubba Wallace is one point behind Bell, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 driver Kevin Harvick is two points back and JTG Daugherty No. 47 driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is four points out. The battle between those drivers will be the tightest and most likely to fluctuate throughout the race.
Last year the 23XI No. 45 swept the Kansas races as Kurt Busch won the spring race and Bubba Wallace won in the fall. This year Tyler Reddick is the driver of the No. 45 and he placed 9th at Kansas in the spring. After placing 2nd last week he’ll be looking to keep momentum at a track that his team knows it has speed. A repeat win for Wallace would be huge in getting him off of the cutline.
Carson Hocevar is back another week in the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 after placing 19th at Darlington in his 2nd Cup start. He will also be running at Bristol Motor Speedway next week.
Xfinity driver Sheldon Creed is making his Cup Series debut in the Live Fast Motorsports No. 78 Chevrolet. Creed should be locked into the Xfinity playoffs after Saturday’s race as well.
The Hollywood Casino 400 is Sunday, Sept. 10, at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA.
Xfinity Series:
A large part of the playoff field has been set with just one race before the Xfinity Series playoffs begin. The one real battle on the cutline is SHR No. 98 driver Riley Herbst and Big Machine Racing No. 48 driver Parker Kligerman who are separated by just one point competing for the last playoff spot.
Richard Childress Racing No. 2 driver Sheldon Creed and Kaulig Racing driver Daniel Hemric are both more than 50 points above the cut and would need a lot to go wrong in order to miss the playoffs in this final week. But, they are not locked in yet.
Hemric has piloted the No. 11 all season but Kaulig announced today that he is taking over the No. 10 for the playoff run as it is in better standing, currently sitting 5th in the Owner Standings. The No. 10 served as an all-star car this year and made every single race with now 11 different drivers. AJ Allmendinger earned wins at Circuit of the Americas and Nashville Superspeedway, and Kyle Larson won the Darlington spring race.
Derek Kraus, who ran the No. 10 through the four spring Xfinity Dash 4 Cash races, was announced as the new driver for the No. 11 this weekend at Kansas. He finished in the top 10 at Richmond and Martinsville in his earlier starts.
The Kansas Lottery 300 is on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
Truck Series:
GMS Racing No. 23 driver Grant Enfinger and ThorSport Racing No. 98 driver Ty Majeski have already won their way into the next round of the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs. Enfinger is coming off a win at the Milwaukee Mile in which he also swept the stages. He also won the spring race at Kansas.
However, the battle on the cutline is intense as 2021 Truck Series Champion Ben Rhodes is three points back from the Rev Racing No. 2 driven by rookie Nick Sanchez.
ThorSport No. 88 driver Matt Crafton will also need to have a good race as he is just nine points ahead of Rhodes. Rackley W.A.R. No. 25 driver Matt DiBenedetto is 20 points out after placing 27th at Milwaukee and has the tallest hill to climb if he wants to make the Round of 8.
18-year-old ARCA Racer Jesse Love will make his 2nd career Truck start with TRICON Garage. He will race the No. 1 which he was originally slated to run in his debut before Corey Heim got sick which allowed Love to run the No. 11 and he placed 9th at World Wide Technology Raceway. Love is the current ARCA National points leader and has nine wins on the season.
Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing will be making its first event of 2023 at Kansas. The former full-time Truck Series team last ran at Talladega near the end of the 2022 season. Cobb’s No. 10 will qualify for the race as there are only 36 trucks on the entry list.
The Kansas Lottery 200 is on Friday, Sept. 8 at 9:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
ARCA:
Just four races remain in the ARCA National Series season. Still using a season-long points format, Venturini Motorsports driver Jesse Love has a commanding lead in the race for the championship.
Love leads Rev Racing rookie Andres Perez de Lara by more than 120 points. After his win last week on the dirt at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, Love does not look to be slowing down as he won the Kansas race earlier this season.
20-year-old CARS Tour Late Model Champion, a JR Motorsports driver, Carson Kvapil is making his ARCA National debut in the Pinnacle Racing Group No. 28. With Luke Fenhaus and Connor Zilisch behind the wheel for four races this season the No. 28 has four top-10 and two runner-up finishes as well as a win at Iowa Speedway.
It’s a big prove-it moment for Kvapil who has been rumored to be a candidate to fill the No. 8 Xfinity seat at JRM. Spire Motorsports also announced that Kvapil would be making his Truck Series debut next weekend at Bristol in the No. 7.
The Sioux Chief Fast Track 150 is on Friday, Sept. 8 at 6:00 p.m. ET on FS1.