Tag: Joe Gibbs Racing

Christopher Bell reacts to Joe Gibbs lifting dirt racing restrictions in 2024

Christopher Bell reacts to Joe Gibbs Racing lifting its dirt racing restrictions in 2024. Find out what Bell had to say about the decision!

[autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag] drivers will be able to compete in more dirt racing events moving forward. On Monday, The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck reported that Joe Gibbs Racing will lift dirt racing restrictions for its NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Of the four drivers, [autotag]Christopher Bell[/autotag], who has won three Chili Bowl Nationals, is the most notable.

Bell spoke to Gluck through The Athletic about Joe Gibbs Racing’s decision to allow its drivers to race in approved dirt racing events moving forward. Needless to say, the driver of the No. 20 Cup car is excited.

“I was definitely caught off guard by the change of policy,” Bell said. “I was super shocked, but with [Chase Briscoe] coming on board and [Ty Gibbs] growing an interest in dirt racing, it’s nice we have the majority of our team aligned with it now…It’s refreshing knowing I’ll be able to do whatever I want to do. I’m super excited to reconnect with my dirt fan base and see everybody at a dirt track soon.”

Bell also posted a message on social media to his fans, saying, “See you guys at a dirt track soon.” With limited track time in the Cup Series, racing in other forms of competition has been beneficial to many NASCAR drivers in the top 3 levels. Now, Joe Gibbs Racing will see those same benefits once again as Bell, Briscoe, Gibbs, and Hamlin will be allowed to run approved dirt racing events.

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Joe Gibbs Racing lifts dirt racing restrictions for NASCAR Cup drivers in 2024

Joe Gibbs Racing will lift its dirt racing restrictions for NASCAR Cup Series drivers in 2024, allowing them to compete in approved events.

[autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag] drivers haven’t been active in the dirt racing world lately; however, that is about to change soon. According to The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck, Joe Gibbs Racing will lift the dirt racing restrictions for its NASCAR Cup Series drivers. This means Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and newcomer Chase Briscoe will be able to run dirt racing events moving forward.

This is a big deal for Bell, who has won the Chili Bowl Nationals three times, and Briscoe, who owns a dirt racing team. According to Briscoe through The Athletic, he brought up dirt racing in his initial talks about joining Joe Gibbs Racing. Out of the four Cup Series drivers, Denny Hamlin is the only competitor who hasn’t expressed an interest in dirt racing.

It is a welcomed development for dirt racing fans, who already see the likes of Kyle Larson race throughout the season. Bell and Briscoe are active members of the dirt racing community and will be able to compete in approved events moving forward. As of now, Bell and Briscoe don’t have any firm plans for the Chili Bowl Nationals in January 2025.

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FedEx won’t return as sponsor for Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025

FedEx won’t return as a sponsor for Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025, ending a 19-year run on the No. 11 car.

[autotag]Denny Hamlin[/autotag]’s long journey with [autotag]FedEx[/autotag] has concluded at the end of the 2024 NASCAR season. Ahead of the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, Hamlin posted a “thank you” video to FedEx on social media. Then, the driver of the No. 11 car confirmed after the race at Phoenix that FedEx will not return as a sponsor in 2025.

This marks another sponsorship loss for [autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag], which saw Mars leave Kyle Busch after the 2022 NASCAR season. FedEx has been with Hamlin for 19 years and has been a steady, full-season sponsor throughout his career. However, the company’s presence on the No. 11 car has dwindled over the last few years, with 2024 being the most noticeable.

Now, FedEx won’t be on Hamlin’s race car moving forward, but it doesn’t mean the relationship between the two sides will come to an end. For now, Joe Gibbs Racing must focus on acquiring more sponsorship for Hamlin and the No. 11 car in 2025. The race at Phoenix marked the end of an era for Hamlin, but it will also be a new beginning for other companies.

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Truex ‘still not sad’ as full-time Cup career comes to a close

Martin Truex Jr. capped off his NASCAR Cup Series career wishing he could have performed better at Phoenix Raceway while still denying those expecting an emotional sendoff. “No emotions,” Truex said after finishing 17th. “I wanted to run [well], …

Martin Truex Jr. capped off his NASCAR Cup Series career wishing he could have performed better at Phoenix Raceway while still denying those expecting an emotional sendoff.

“No emotions,” Truex said after finishing 17th. “I wanted to run [well], man. I wanted to run better than that and thought early on it was going to be a good day, and it just kept getting worse and worse and worse the harder we tried and the more we tried to do to the car. I don’t know.

“It’s been [like that] lately — qualify good and then the hotter the track gets, the more rubber goes down, the more we struggle. I don’t know what we got going on there, but I wish we could have put some tires on at the end, at least, and had a shot to go forward. It wasn’t much fun at the end running on old tires.”

Truex started from the pole in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and led the first nine laps. It was the only time he spent at the front of the field.

Joey Logano overtook Truex for the top spot and won the first stage. Truex crossed the line second, but on the pit stops under the stage break caution, Truex came off pit road seventh and the lost track position ended up being the beginning of the slide backward.

“It started off well,” crew chief James Small said. “We contended to win the first stage, and then we lost a lot of track positions there, and everything got worse. Through the middle of the second stage we started to have some brake issues and that just created handling problems. The pedal started getting long, and he couldn’t slow down. It (the car) started getting tight, and it was a vicious cycle going backward.

“It started off so promising – yesterday was great. It’s a frustrating way to end. It kind of sums up our season the way it unraveled there.”

Truex was the toast of Sunday pre-race activities. A video package in the driver’s meeting led to a standing ovation from his fellow competitors.

“It was unexpected, I guess,” Truex said. “It was very cool, a huge honor. I’m very honored and humbled to be recognized like that.”

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On the grid, it is a procedure to use chalk to mark the car number as a placeholder for when the team brings out their car. NASCAR, however, did not use No. 19 for Truex’s car on Sunday but wrote “Gone Fishing” on pit road instead.

“I thought that was cool because I’m going to be doing a lot of that,” Truex said.

He has plans to run the Daytona 500 next season, a race he has never won. Joe Gibbs is also open to having him potentially run Xfinity Series races for the organization, but he still has no second thoughts about retirement.

“Still not sad,” he said. “Everybody wants me to be sad [and] I’m happy. I’m celebrating. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for, a lot to be proud of. I’m going to enjoy some time off here and do the banquet and all that fun stuff, and it’s going to be fun to come back in a different role and race for fun.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to have fun. It’s so hard to have fun when you take it this seriously, and I was having fun early today, and then it got miserable. I was hoping today would go better so it’d be more fun. We’ll see. I’m looking forward to Daytona.”

As a driver who needed to fulfill post-race media obligations, Truex was parked near the pit road exit with the championship contenders. It meant he had a long walk back down pit road toward the exit. As he did so, he came across Small, and the two stopped not to reminisce but to debrief about the day, even if the information was no longer relevant to Truex.

“Usually, I don’t get to see him afterward [because] he’s sprinting,’ Small laughed. “It was good to see him. I’m sure we’ll talk more this week, but he’s going fishing somewhere.”

Truex powers to pole for his own Cup Series finale at Phoenix

Martin Truex Jr. will end his full-time NASCAR Cup Series career leading the field to the green flag for the second consecutive week. Truex won the pole for the season finale at Phoenix Raceway with a lap of 134.741mph (26.718s). It is the 25th pole …

Martin Truex Jr. will end his full-time NASCAR Cup Series career leading the field to the green flag for the second consecutive week.

Truex won the pole for the season finale at Phoenix Raceway with a lap of 134.741mph (26.718s). It is the 25th pole of Truex’s career, third at Phoenix, and second of the season. The second pole comes a week after the first when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was also the quickest at Martinsville.

“It’s very cool,” Truex said of the back-to-back poles. “Honestly, you always want to be known as a guy who can go fast at any track and any situation. The pressure is always pretty high for qualifying; you have to go out there and nail [it perfectly] and you only get one shot at it these days. It’s always fun to go there and beat everyone at anything, so it feels good. It’s very cool. But the big prize is tomorrow, so hopefully we can get that one.”

Joey Logano was the fastest of the four championship contenders, qualifying second at 134.690mph.

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Ross Chastain qualified third at 134.268mph and is the defending race winner at Phoenix.

Kyle Larson ran fourth at 134.308mph; Chase Elliott, fifth at 134.228mph; Ty Gibbs, sixth at 134.273mph and Christopher Bell, seventh at 133.373mph.

William Byron was the second-highest championship contender in eighth place. His lap was 134.218mph.

Harrison Burton qualified ninth at 132.188mph and Tyler Reddick ended up the third championship contender to qualify inside the top 10. He starts 10th after a lap of 134.118mph.

The Cup Series’ Rookie of the Year Carson Hocevar qualified 15th.

Ryan Blaney, defending series champion, qualified 17th with a lap of 134.263mph.

Jimmie Johnson qualified 23rd; Kyle Busch, 25th; Brad Keselowski, 27th and Bubba Wallace, 29th.

Josh Berry qualified 39th after spinning on his qualifying lap off Turn 2.

There are 40 drivers who will start Sunday’s race.

NEXT: Cup Series season finale at 3 p.m. ET Sunday.

RESULTS

Truex wholly unaffected by retirement ahead of final full-time Cup Series start at Phoenix

When a driver is entering the final days of a full-time career that spanned nearly two decades, it’s easy to imagine them rediscovering the magic in things that had become mundane: those final debriefs with the team; driving out for the last …

When a driver is entering the final days of a full-time career that spanned nearly two decades, it’s easy to imagine them rediscovering the magic in things that had become mundane: those final debriefs with the team; driving out for the last practice session as a full-timer; even just the mental recalibration that comes with knowing that after 19 years of waking up as a NASCAR Cup Series driver, you’re going to wake up as… something else.

All of that might be true if the driver in question is anyone other than Martin Truex Jr, who will climb into Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota as a full-time NASCAR driver for the last time in Phoenix on Sunday.

“Yes and no. I mean, I guess a little bit,” Truex said on Saturday when asked if preparing for this weekend felt any different.

“I don’t really know the significance of it. I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m excited for the weekend. I had good practice yesterday and as far as preparation, it’s been same as usual. We’ll see how it goes. I’m not sure really of the emotions. I’m not super-emotional, I guess. We’ll see what happens after the race, but looking forward to having a fun weekend and hopefully a great day tomorrow.

“I don’t think I will be (emotional). I’m focused on what we’re doing, and if anything, it will all come afterwards. As a driver, you’re trained to put the blinders on, right? And not worry about outside distractions and emotions and all the things that could potentially derail what you’re trying to do on the weekend or on the race day. So I think if anything, it’ll probably not really sink in until after.”

Truex does not have a large entourage present in Phoenix for his send-off. “Just my close family,” he said. “I’m not sure aside from them.” Instead, the sole obvious concession to sentiment is one that wasn’t even his idea – this weekend, his car carries a replica of the livery he used in his Cup debut with DEI at Daytona in 2005.

A livery come full circle, minus some metal flake — 2005 Daytona 500. Robt LeSieur/Motorsport Images

“It was a surprise to me,” he said. “I had no idea. Very grateful for it though. It was one of my favorites that I’ve had throughout my career. It doesn’t quite look exactly the same [when done in] vinyl. It used to be paint back in the day, and when that car was painted, it was metallic, so a little bit different, but it looks amazing and big thanks to everybody at JGR and Bass Pro for putting it together. It’s really special.”

As has been the case with Truex since day one, it’s going to be left to his driving to do the talking. The championship with Gibbs alliance team Furniture Row Racing in 2017 was the obvious highlight, reinforced by 34 Cup Series wins ahead of Phoenix, and two championships in the-then Busch Series. But in saluting Truex’s career on Friday, NASCAR president Steve Phelps also emphasized his integrity.

“I don’t know that it was that I put a great effort into it. I think it just came naturally and that’s just kind of the way I did things,” Truex said. “Certainly proud of that. I think times have changed a lot since I learned to race with, you know, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart and the guys when I came into the Cup series – they didn’t put up with anything, so you had to learn quickly. That’s just my style and the way I like to do it.”

Truex is as relaxed about the chapter he’s about to embark upon as he is the one that’s about to close. He plans to do a very limited program of Cup races next year, and maybe tack on the annual Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium in New Jersey, where he cut his teeth – though again, not until next year. “[I’m] raced out for the year,” he smiled. “So [I’ll] take Thanksgiving with the family this year and then next year I’ll probably be bored, so I might do it then.

“I’m really excited about the future and next year and just going to have fun again. I don’t really know what tomorrow feels like. It’s going to be different for sure, knowing that you’re not full-time in the Cup Series and all that comes with that, but I’m excited about it. Maybe I’m happy more than anything.”

‘I feel cheated out of a chance to compete for a championship’ – Bell

The events of NASCAR’s Cup Series Championship 4 decider at Martinsville are still raw for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, on the outside looking in as four other drivers prepare to fight it out for the championship in Phoenix on Sunday. “I …

The events of NASCAR’s Cup Series Championship 4 decider at Martinsville are still raw for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, on the outside looking in as four other drivers prepare to fight it out for the championship in Phoenix on Sunday.

“I feel cheated,” Bell said. “I feel cheated out of a chance to compete for a championship. It all stems from what happened [with] 15, 20 [laps] to go – whenever the race got fixed, manipulated by Chevrolet. That forced our hands to do what we did, and ultimately it forced me into a mistake on the last lap to get into the wall, and I feel like I should never have been in that position. Had the race been run fairly, the No. 24 car (William Byron) would’ve lost enough spots to get me into the final race.”

Bell was penalized after the finish of the Martinsville race for wall-riding on the final lap while trying to get around Bubba Wallace and secure enough points to make the Championship 4 at the expense of Byron. Byron, meanwhile, had three other Chevrolet-powered cars holding station behind him to help him preserve his track position. Bell qualified for the Championship 4 ahead of Byron on a tie-break based on where they crossed the finish line, but the penalty dropped him from 18th to 22nd. Byron finished sixth, and inherited Bell’s Championship 4 spot when the penalty was announced.

 

“I hate calling the last lap ‘a move’ because it was not a move,” Bell said. “My intentions were never to ride the wall. I didn’t gain an advantage riding the wall, so it was not a move, and I don’t believe that I broke the rule.

“I feel like I should be in the Championship 4. In the race, when the manipulation happened, it was clear that I needed a position, and with the No. 23 (Wallace) dropping back, we got that position and whenever we crossed the finish line, (my) No. 20 car was in. So with the cards that were dealt, the No. 20 car was in position to make the championship event, and we’re not in it.”

Bell said that he was not aware of his point situation until the closing laps of the race.

“I was informed with probably 20 or 25 [laps] to go that the No. 24 was bleeding positions,” he said. “And it appeared at that point that we were going to be fine and make it on points. As the run continued, I actually got visuals on the No. 24 car and saw him backing the field up. Then it was probably 10 to go when I realized what was going on and that the No. 24 was indeed done bleeding positions, so I thought at that point that my race was over. I didn’t know that the No. 23 car was a point for me until the last lap. I knew that I had to pass him, and I got by him going in to Turn 3, and unfortunately I slid into the wall.”

At that point, Bell said, he was aware of the tactics being used by the Chevrolet cars.

“I could very clearly see the race manipulation and race fixing that was going on,” he said.

“It’s tough. I mean, this has been one of the hardest things that I’ve had to go through as a race car driver. I believe ‘cheated’ is the right word. We go through sessions at the beginning of the year to make sure that we don’t do this. That, unfortunately, is what happened and I was on the losing side of it.”

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Bell admitted his predicament makes for some mixed emotions ahead of Sunday’s race. His job is to win races – but in this case, victory will be the ultimate reminder of what should have been.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “No matter how it goes, you want to do well and we’re going to put our best foot forward to do well. But if we do well and have a successful weekend, then it’s going to be even more of a bummer and a disappointment. It’s a very perplexing feeling going into this weekend, and one that I hope that I never have again.”

One thing that Bell takes solace in: his body of work across the season, which opened with a third place at the Daytona 500 and yielded three victories going into Phoenix.

“This 2024 season has been the best in my career across all forms of the statistics – more top 10s, more top fives, more laps led,” he said. “That’s something that we tried to emphasize going into 2024, coming off our 2022, 2023 (season), being in the championship race but feeling like we haven’t performed at our highest. Even leaving 2024, I feel like it’s more of the same, where we left a lot on the table. I’m happy and I’m pleased that I have set career highs for myself, and I am hopeful and optimistic that I can keep breaking those barriers and winning more races, leading more laps, winning more stages, more top 10s, more top fives.”

Before he can do that, he needs to draw a line under the disappointment of how his 2024 ended, and the fact that, from his view, his destiny was taken out of his own hands. The best medicine so far has been putting on the helmet.

“Whenever I get in the car, I have been able to turn off everything that’s going on around me and focus on the task at hand,” he said. “Frankly, I look forward to that. Practice was fun. I got to get into my zone and drive a race car. It’s all of the stuff outside of the car, where you’re not in race car driver mode, that’s not fun and is heartbreak and disappointment. I look forward to putting my helmet on and getting out of the world; getting into my race car.”

Almirola completes Xfinity season sweep at Martinsville

Tickets punched and punches thrown-it was Martinsville after all, and in Saturday’s National Debt Relief 250, Aric Almirola made Martinsville Speedway his personal playground. Leading 150 of 250 laps in a No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that was the …

Tickets punched and punches thrown—it was Martinsville after all, and in Saturday’s National Debt Relief 250, Aric Almirola made Martinsville Speedway his personal playground.

Leading 150 of 250 laps in a No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that was the clear class of the field, Almirola won his second race in his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the 0.526-mile short track and earned a spot for his car in the series owners’ Championship 4.

In the process, Almirola denied JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith and JGR’s Chandler Smith a chance to advance to the Championship 4 Race for the drivers’ title.

Pulling away after a restart on lap 235, the part-time Xfinity Series driver beat runner-up Sammy Smith to the finish line by 0.587s, with Chandler Smith trailing in third.

With Almirola winning the race, Justin Allgaier (fifth Saturday) and defending series champion Cole Custer (fourth) qualified for the Nov. 9 Championship 4 Race at Phoenix on points, joining Round of 8 race winners AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill.

Jesse Love (12th Saturday) and Sam Mayer (30th) were eliminated from the Playoffs along with the two Smiths, though Chandler gave a parting shot in the form of a punch to Custer, with whom he had tangled on the race track.

 

For Almirola, who won at Martinsville in April in his first Xfinity attempt, the victory was the third of the season in 13 starts and the seventh of his career.

“We had an amazing car here in the spring, and we made a few tweaks to it,” said Almirola, who also swept the first and second stages. “I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. And we showed up [Friday] and we were awful. I was like ‘Oh, no, what did we do?’

“They went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car, and it was so hooked up today. It would just do everything I wanted it to. This is such a special place. This is by far my favorite race track. I’m just so thankful.”

After Chandler Smith executed a bump-and run on Custer for a pass on lap 220, Custer lined up behind Smith on the outside for a restart on lap 227. In a race that produced 13 cautions for 84 laps, Custer shoved Smith’s Camry toward the wall in Turn 1, perhaps denying the latter a chance to race for the win.

After the race, Smith confronted Custer and threw a punch at the reigning champion.

“I was planning to do a lot more than that, to be completely frank with you,” Smith said. “I was extremely [expletive] off. I gave him five laps before that caution came out (for Brandon Jones’ spin on lap 220). I beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything. The laps were winding down, and I was in a must-win. The No. 20 (Almirola) started to drive away—he was really good all day—I can’t waste any more time with him.

“I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the race track and went on our way. But I gave him a chance for five laps before that. I think he was the first guy all day that chose the outside lane from third place (for the lap 227 restart). That was very interesting, and he didn’t even give me a chance to make the corner when we got to Turn 1.”

Custer thought that made the drivers all-square, though Smith disagreed.

“Obviously he wasn’t happy, but what goes around comes around,” Custer said. “He put us in the wall a few times this year. He used the bump-and-run on me. I used the bump-and-run on him…

“I don’t know how we’re not even. And then he punched me in the face. I couldn’t really tell if he even punched me in the face, it was so soft.”

Along with Almirola, Hill and Allmendinger, Allgaier put his No. 7 Chevrolet in the Championship 4 for the owners’ title.

RESULTS

Truex sets the pace in extended Martinsville Cup practice

Martin Truex Jr. paced the extended NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday at Martinsville Speedway while one of his championship-eligible teammates crashed due of a hung throttle. Truex was fastest at 95.070mph (19.918s). He was the only driver who …

Martin Truex Jr. paced the extended NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday at Martinsville Speedway while one of his championship-eligible teammates crashed due of a hung throttle.

Truex was fastest at 95.070mph (19.918s). He was the only driver who cracked 95mph.

Corey LaJoie was second fastest at 94.989mph and Denny Hamlin (P) was third at 94.884mph. Hamlin, however, did not complete the session.

A piece of rubber got stuck in the throttle body, causing it to hang wide open, and it sent Hamlin for a spin in Turn 3. He had previously set the fastest lap when the incident occurred. The rear of his Toyota was heavily damaged, however the team is repairing the car for Hamlin to race Sunday.

Christopher Bell (P) was fourth fastest at 94.856mph; Chase Elliott (P), fifth at 94.837mph; Ty Gibbs, sixth at 94.789mph; Chase Briscoe, seventh at 94.690mph; Todd Gilliland, eighth at 94.685mph; Austin Dillon, ninth at 94.482mph and Daniel Suarez, 10th at 94.463mph.

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William Byron (P) was 11th fastest at 94.392mph. The remaining playoff drivers were outside the top 20.

Joey Logano (P) ran 25th at 94.008mph, Ryan Blaney (P), the defending race winner, was 29th at 93.957mph and Kyle Larson (P) was 30th at 93.905mph. The slowest playoff driver was Tyler Reddick (P) in 34th place. Reddick ran 93.775mph.

Cup Series teams were given an extended practice because of the softer tire brought to Martinsville Speedway. All drivers were able to get on track together during the 45 minutes (as opposed to the traditional groups).

There are 37 drivers entered in the Xfinity 500.

P denotes playoff driver.

Practice crash puts Hamlin in ‘must win’ mindset at Martinsville

Denny Hamlin switched to a must-win mentality after crashing in practice Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, knowing he’ll have to come from the rear of the field in the final elimination race of the playoffs. Hamlin spun and significantly damaged …

Denny Hamlin switched to a must-win mentality after crashing in practice Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, knowing he’ll have to come from the rear of the field in the final elimination race of the playoffs.

Hamlin spun and significantly damaged the rear of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota when the throttle hung going into Turn 3. It happened about halfway through the 45-minute session after he had, at the time, set the quickest lap. He wound up third overall when the session was completed.

The five-time Martinsville winner said his car was doing everything it needed to do before the crash. He was caught off guard when the car didn’t slow down on its 33rd lap.

“We just got unlucky,” Hamlin said.

A piece of rubber was the culprit that led to the hung throttle.

“[They] sent me a picture and there was a large chunk right in the throttle body that was still sitting there when we pulled in here,” Hamlin said. “I’ve had throttles stick before but never hang all the way wide open. But looking at the way the rubber was in there, the throttle had no chance to come backward.”

Hamlin put his reactions to the test trying to keep from going front-end first into the wall, hitting the pedals as hard as possible and whipping the wheel to the left.

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The No. 11 will not make a qualifying attempt for Sunday’s race as the team repairs the car. Once the damaged car was brought back to the garage, crew chief Chris Gabehart and his team took off the body panels before rolling it through the inspection stations to check on chassis measurements.

The team determined it was repairable and will spend Saturday making it race-ready. Hamlin will start at the rear of the field and the team will not have an ideal pit stall selection.

“It’s hard to win these races straight up, and even if you had the pole, it’s hard to win,” Hamlin said. “Our battle is going to be very much uphill. … Certainly, the chances of getting in on points now are done. We just have to figure out a way to win the race.”

The good news is, Hamlin felt the softer tire was an improvement over what was run at Martinsville in the past. Given that, he’s optimistic that, with a good handling car, a driver can make their way through the field if the race goes green long enough.

He enters Sunday’s race 18 points out of a transfer spot.

“That will be the short-term goal — try to find a way to put some cars between us and the leaders to stay on the lead lap,” Hamlin said. “It will be difficult to do that, but we’ll give it our best shot. We’re not going to give up.”