Denny Hamlin's victory at Nashville just wasn't about another NASCAR trophy. It was a signal of changing times for the veteran driver, who was keen to address one of his biggest weaknesses in the car: late-race restarts.

Throughout his long career, Hamlin has been one of those drivers who were extremely smart around the track, but even for him, restarts were costly. Last season, a late restart at Kansas cost a potential victory, a situation that recurred at the track this year. Another at the 2025 finale in Phoenix took away a shot from him at what he believed was a chance at the title.

Moreover, the same happened at Martinsville and Texas this season, with Hamlin losing out on late race restarts and Chase Elliott winning both races. At Nashville this season, however, Denny Hamlin revealed how he changed his approach.

"Well, I switched my game mid-restart. Like, again, I approached three to go and two to go far differently than I approached it with one to go," he said. "And so it was almost like, you know, showing someone a defense or a shot fake, and just you keep doing it, and you keep doing it, and they then think, well, you're gonna do it again."

The explanation showed us that he was now a driver who was thinking multiple moves ahead instead of just the immediate future.

"And so on the last lap, I said, ' No, I'm gonna just do something totally different'. And that is what allowed me to clear off turn two. I did not drive into turn one hardly at all because I knew that he was going to drive in really deep."

This was the point when the aggressive driver decided not to do what he always does and did not force the pass. He stuck to the inside line and eventually got a better run to the line.

"I realized he was not gonna let me clear. And so I needed at that point just to run the fastest lap time I could on the last lap, and that's what we did," Hamlin added.

Hamlin's change in strategy did yield results at Nashville, but it still seems improbable that the veteran will capture the championship this season. Let's see how the odds may play out.

Can Denny Hamlin Finally Finish the Job?

Nashville showed us why Denny Hamlin is such a big threat to his rivals on the racetrack. Despite his growing abilities, Tyler Reddick seems to be holding on to his championship lead by 97 points after 14 races. The gap becomes less significant once the 10-race Chase begins following Race 26.

The veteran, Hamlin, has already won several races, and he seems second in line to finally win his first Cup title if Reddick can't get there. This is backed by races at upcoming tracks such as Pocono, Michigan, and Richmond, all of which favor Hamlin's driving style and Toyota's long-run abilities.

Even last season, Hamlin almost won the championship after being in the Championship 4, yet the title eluded him. A late caution at Phoenix played into Kyle Larson's hands, giving the Hendrick Motorsports driver his second title.

Irrespective of who wins this season, Denny Hamlin has proved to fans why they cannot miss watching him in the twilight of his NASCAR career. Having taken his 62nd Cup win in Nashville on Sunday, he is only one short of equaling Kyle Busch on the all-time win list.

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Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Yash Kotak