“I’m coming here to win,” Denny Hamlin said in a media interview Saturday. “That strategy won’t change until things change during the race.”

Hamlin entered the playoffs as one in every of the title favorites, but questionable strategy and terrible luck left him six points below the cutoff. A final-lap crash at Atlanta after deciding to ride behind to avoid chaos and a first-lap crash at Watkins Glen left him with two more finishes within the mid-20s. The excellent news? He also won the last two Cup races at Bristol.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, FedEx Toyota Camry

Photo: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images

Hamlin admitted it was frustrating, however the volatility of this round was expected given the additions of Atlanta and Watkins Glen to the round of 16.

“I think when we saw the way the tracks were being set up in the playoffs and so forth, and we knew that adding Atlanta was going to introduce some variability in the results that you can’t always predict but still have to execute,” he explained. “Obviously, you look at the top five and you look at the bottom five – that’s not something you can predict and that you couldn’t see for the first 27 or 28 races of the year, but now it’s a new game and you still have to go out there and perform, so it’s frustrating not to have the results – but today is a new opportunity.”

Fighting teammates

With several playoff upsets near the highest of the standings, Hamlin is one in every of three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers at risk of being eliminated on Saturday night. How will that change the dynamic when all of those teammates face off in Bristol?

“I'm not sure,” Hamlin admitted. “Probably a disadvantage, because we've had success here and they know what we had in our car to make it work so well, things like that. If they were on a different team, maybe you'd panic or start guessing – okay, we're not on pace – we've got to sell our car wholesale, and then you're going to end up falling short, but I think it's so tight that I think it's just going to be a matter of who gets through to who.”

“We hope everything works out for us, but if not, then obviously we have a couple of team cars – all our cars, there are three in that question mark – it would be great to have all three, but there is a chance we will get more than one.”

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, FedEx Toyota Camry

Photo: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images

The JGR drivers began the race thoroughly. Although Hendrick went 1-2-3 in qualifying, Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth, Christopher Bell sixth and Hamlin eighth. Ty Gibbs, who enters Bristol on a bubble, is a bit further back in thirteenth.

Hamlin reiterated that he’ll attack from the beginning, a far cry from his conservative strategy that proved costly in Atlanta. “I’ll be on the attack, starting right away. I’ll be happy with the outcome — either way — because I know that after 500-plus laps here, everything will fall into place and we’ll have a chance to win.”

Alex Bowman, who took the pole within the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, accomplished 70 consecutive laps of practice and not using a hitch, a feat that last spring saw tire failures occur half as often.

“Yeah, I think it’s back to where it was a year ago,” Bowman explained. “I haven’t really noticed any unusual wear. They’re not dropping that much. So I’m definitely curious to see what the variable is, right? I feel there are loads of smart individuals who will determine what the variable is; between testing here, the spring race, and every part else where the identical things are causing different results.

“I think we're in Bristol a year ago, more so than we were in Bristol in the spring. Unless all the rubber disappears overnight for whatever reason, I think it'll make it a spring race again. But if that doesn't happen, I think it'll be normal Bristol again.”

Excess rubber from Goodyear tires on the track

Photo: Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images

It is unhappy news for fans who were hoping for a repeat of the chaotic race from earlier this yr which was full of motion and featured 54 lead changes, breaking Bristol's previous record of 40, set greater than three many years earlier.

Numerous guessing

Another think about all that is using PJ1 traction compound along the track’s lower groove Saturday morning, in addition to the cleansing of the upper groove after the Xfinity race. It’s unclear how that may affect things through the race. NASCAR made the choice after discussions with Goodyear, the drivers and the track itself.

Martin Truex Jr. says his team spent all week analyzing data and video footage, “trying to know or guess — because the toughest thing about this piece is that a lot changes.

“You never know what's coming – are we going to race down the hill or up the hill? Are the tires going to wear out like they did in the spring or are they going to wear out like they did in the fall of last year? There's always a lot of questions when you come here, but I think we've got a game plan that we think is the right way for us to approach it and we'll just be able to take it step by step.”

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Gainbridge Cal Ripken Sr. Fdn. Chevrolet Camaro, Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, CITGARD Ford Mustang

Photo: David Rosenblum / NKP / Motorsport Images

Joey Logano is the one driver who doesn’t must worry in today’s race, as he already has a spot within the Round 12 after winning the primary playoff race in Atlanta.

“It’s not as stressful for me as it is for some people,” the two-time NASCAR Cup champion joked. Asked about tire wear, he noted, “That’s a huge variable. It might be the biggest.”

Like Truex, the Team Penske star isn’t sure what to anticipate. Before practice, he predicted the teams would see an enormous drop in form, but that didn’t occur.

In practice there aren’t any problems

There were no tyre issues during practice, and lap times dropped by only about two to 3 tenths over the course of the 30-lap run. Logano averaged 15.661s over the primary five laps, only dropping to fifteen.991s after the 30-lap run.

“I’m sure a lot of teams have probably made some changes to their cars since the last time,” he continued. “That will help. I thought it was great last time. It’s fun to watch the race, just watch it back. There was so much going on, almost too much, that it was hard to keep up, but it definitely threw the old slider at us that we weren’t ready for. Everyone will be more prepared this time.”

Cleaning the rubber from excessive wear on Goodyear tires

Photo: Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images

As it stands, it's unlikely we'll see a spectacle that mirrors the spring race, but when tire wear becomes a problem, Denny Hamlin is hopeful NASCAR can maintain a gentle rhythm with caution flag times.

“Just consistency in terms of what’s a caution early is the same caution that’s a caution late,” said Hamlin, who has won the last two Cup races at Bristol. “If you’re going to let guys ride down or up with a flat tire, let them ride it late in the race as well. Just consistency in terms of that. If it’s tight early, call it tight late. If it’s loose early, call it loose late. Those are the only consistencies that the competition is looking for.”