Column By: HOLLY CAIN / NASCAR – LEBANON, TN – In the midst of their matching three-win seasons, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have raced hard, door-to-door often this season resulting sometimes in hard feelings and damaged race cars. However, the two golfing buddies, have never made it a huge public issue.
Asked about the style of racing between the pair and if it was actually a true rivalry, Hamlin wouldn’t go that far.
“I don’t know I just think there’s different [kinds of rivalries] ones for sure,’’ Hamlin said. “I think there are rivalries that come from drivers that probably don’t respect each other. They have a lot of speed, but don’t like each other or deliberately run into each other.
“I don’t think anyone’s deliberately running into each other, although it does happen. Certainly I’ve had my fair of mistakes and he’s been on the bad end of those but it’s come from competition, wanting to beat him. He’s one of the guys, one of the best in our sport, if not THE best. So I challenge myself more when I get to race with him and it does happen often and it does happen towards the front more times than not.
“We know each other’s driving styles and we do things around one another that combat passing each other and that usually means there’s tight quarters conditions.’’
Chastain Looks To Go Back-To-Back
Defending Nashville race winner Ross Chastain likes his chances to become the track’s first repeat winner. The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet is still racing for his first win of the season, although he is ranked 12th in the current 16-driver Playoff standings based on points.
The 31-year-old Floridian has seven top-10 finishes and a pair of top-fives this season with 118 laps led and one stage win. Yet his consistency – an 12th place average finish – has kept him high in the standings and ranked among those with wins already.
A good showing this weekend is especially important to him and it has been a venue where he has shined. Chastain has never finished worse than fifth in the three Nashville races with a runner-up (2021) and fifth place effort (2022) in addition to his win last year.
“This town means a lot to our team,’’ Chastain said of Nashville, noting that is where Trackhouse Racing team’s executive headquarters is based.
“To finish fifth and first with Trackhouse has been great, there’ve been some good parties at Tootsie’s after these races I can tell you,’’ Chastain said with a smile.
As for securing that first victory of 2024, “Just need a little more speed,’’ he said, adding, “Now the entire sport is trying to do that so it doesn’t matter if you’re leading, you want to be a half-tenth better or if you’re 30th you want to be that half-tenth better.
“For us, I feel like we’re a really consistent 10th-place car. A good restart, we’ll go to sixth and a bad restart, I go to 14th. So, it’s just a little bit, it’s just crumbs now to get to that top five. And then you see it, with top fives then you win. You put yourself in position.”
Berry Looking To Build
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry comes to Nashville after tying his best showing of the season with a third-place finish at New Hampshire last week. The Tennessee-native certainly holds high hopes for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series debut at his home-state venue and for his chances to win before the Playoffs start Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The four-car SHR team – as it has operated – announced it would be dissolving at the end of the year and Berry, along with teammates Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece are now left to find work elsewhere. Joe Gibbs Racing announced this week that in 2025, Briscoe will fill the seat in the No. 19 Toyota left by retiring driver Martin Truex Jr. The other drivers, however, are still racing for their futures.
Berry, in his first full season of NASCAR Cup Series competition, believes he won’t only make the Playoffs based on points, but can win a race. And he was optimistic about being able to stay in NASCAR’s premier series going forward, encouraged by his recent pace – four top-10 finishes in the last six weeks.
“I feel good about having a spot in the Cup Series next year, I think our results have been really strong the last couple months,’’ said Berry, who has two top-five finishes in three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Nashville. “I don’t really know other than winning a race at this point, is all I can do. We’ve finished in the top five, we’ve led laps, we’ve shown the potential of what we can do.
“I think that’s been a big confidence boost for me and I really think the whole situation for myself and my team, you really find out a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall and everyone’s performing at a really high level.
“We’re fighting together.
“I’m at my best when my back is against the wall and I have to perform,’’ he added.
Heat Wave
Temperatures in the Nashville area have been in the high 90s this week with “feels like” marks well above 100 degrees with a heat advisory issued for the region. Drivers and teams concede it’s the hottest NASCAR race weekend so far, but their concerns are as much for the fans in the grandstands as for themselves. The drivers say they try to always be ready for conditions like this.
“Just a lot of preparation during the week, I’m sure everyone trains a little differently hydrating, training, all the things you think your body needs to do better,’’ Hendrick Motorsports’ driver William Byron said of the weather.
“It’ll be a true test for all of us. I think the weather backs off a little tomorrow and won’t be as bad as today, but you have to do a good job internally to manage that stress and make sure you’re able to make good decisions through the heat.’’
