Welcome to TimersSports
Hamlin had a very good 2016 season, but like 2015, he didn't really come strong until the second half of the season. He was very strong in the second half and showed some serious muscle at times. In fact, you could say that Hamlin had his best year ever in Nascar. Yes, I know, he didn't win many races like some years. However, he had career bests in top 5 and top 10 finishes though. That's count for something, right?
Hamlin will be very strong on the intermediate tracks as usual, he's in a top ride and they are commonly the ones at the front. He may have a few bumps in the road, but I am confident in him though. His best intermediate tracks? Darlington, Texas and Charlotte. You can also make a case for him at Chicago, over the past three seasons as well. Darlington is his best track overall. Statistically, it is his best track for his career and second-best over the past two seasons. His numbers at Darlington are just incredible. It's almost unreal honestly! In 11 career starts, he has compiled 9 Top 10 finishes. Over just his past 7 races, he has finished 6th or better in 6 races. While 4 of the past 5 races, he has compiled 4 Top 4 finishes. Just to put it in perspective, In those 6 races (he's finished 6th or better in), he has compiled 3.0 average finish with 6.5 average running position and 113.4 driver rating. All three all of those categories ranked as first the series.
Texas is another really good track for Denny, even though you couldn't tell that by looking at the ''average finish'' over the past 2 seasons. Over the past 2 seasons (4 races), he has compiled 17.5 average finish with 19.0 average running position and 76.3 driver rating. I know, you are proabbly like, ''Jeff, those aren't good numbers.'' I agree, they aren't, but you have dig digger than the surface. Over the past 7 races at Texas, Hamlin has compiled 6 finishes of 13th or better. His one bad finish was 38th back in November 2015. Take out that bad finish and here are his numbers in 6 other races: 10.3 average finish (6th-best in the series) with 11.5 average running position and 90.6 driver rating. See how much difference one bad race can make? Always dig into stats, kids.
Charlotte is the final track that, I would like to look dig into. Charlotte has been a great track for Denny over the past couple seasons, but his numbers get drug down because of one poor finish. He finished 30th in last fall race, after leading 52 laps. That's his lone non-top 10 finish, since 22nd in May 2014. Over the past 13 races at Charlotte, he has compiled 11 Top 10 finishes. More recently, he has compiled 4 Top 9 finishes over his past 5 races. While 2 of his past 3 races has ended in 4th. This is a great track for him and no reason to believe why it would change.
Shorter flats are considered his best type of track overall. All three tracks are ranked among his top 6 tracks in average finish for his career. I would say that Richmond is his best shorter flat track though. It is hard to find another track (other than Dalrington or Martinsville) that Denny has found as much success on. He did go in as slump from September 2012 to April 2015, where he didn't finish better than 18th. That 5-race stench was the worst of his career by far at Richmond. The 6 races prior to that 5-race stench, he posted 4 top 4 finishes in 6 races. That was from September 2009 to April 2012. In that span, he had 2 wins and another 2nd place run. I think he has returned to Hammy's form at Richmond though. Over his past three races at Richmond, he has compiled 3 straight top 6 finishes. Including a dominant win last fall, where he led 189 laps on his way to victory lane. Even at 189 laps led, it is only good enough for 5th-most laps led in a single race at this track. Just again shows how good, he has been at this place.
New Hampshire is another good track for Denny Hamlin. In his first 14 starts at this track (from July 2006 to September 2012), he has 8 Top 9 finishes with 6 of them ending in 3rd or better. His numbers has dipped in his past 8 races at the track, which is why I called it a good track. Not a great track, like it was from 2006 to 2012. Over the past 8 races at New Hampshire, he has compiled 5 finishes of 15th or better. Not great, but he is making gains it seems though. Over the past three races, he has two finishes of 9th or better. With 4 of the past 6 races, he has posted a driver rating of 97.7 or better. That's a good sign, he's making strides again.
Phoenix will always be a good track for Denny Hamlin! He been just as good there recently too. Over his past 5 races, he has compiled 4 finishes of 8th or better. I say from November 2006 to November 2012 was Hamlin's prime at Phoenix. Then like a lot of other tracks, he's hit 2013 to 2015. Of course, his past three races there been really good. In that 3 race span, he has compiled 6.0 average finish with 8.7 average running position and 100.0 driver rating. He's solid, people!
Larger flats was really good to Denny Hamlin in 2016! He compiled 8.7 average finish with 11.0 average finish with 94.6 driver rating. That's very solid! Pocono is a great track for Denny. He has compiled 4 wins in just 22 starts at the track. Hamlin use to be the master here, but has fell off in recent years. Still, I consider this as a pretty good place for him. Over the past 6 races at Pocono, he has compiled 4 Top 10 finishes. Not bad at all! With that said, only one of those finishes ended in the top 5. Digging deeper, 5 of his past 8 races ended in the top 10 as well. He may not win, but he's solid bet for Pocono.
Indy should be another good track for him. He been running well there lately. There was a time where Indy was considered one of Denny's worst tracks. In his first 6 starts, he was only able to post 2 Top 10 finishes. And 3 Top 15 overalls. 50% isn't a great numbers to say. How about over his past 5 races there? Well, he has compiled 4 finishes of 6th or better. His non-top 6 was back in 2013. That was the season, where he got injured at Cali. After the he had to sit out several races (before returning), but was never the same. I blame his poor finish on that. Since then, he has posted 3 straight Top 5 finishes at Indy.
Plate tracks has been his best type of racetrack over the past couple seasons and no driver in the series been better at them. Daytona been where, Hamlin been shinning the brightest at though. Over the past 4 races at Daytona, he has compiled 5.8 average finish with 7.8 average running position and 107.2 driver rating. Ranked first in all of those categories, by the way. Talladega been a little up and down over the past couple seasons. Over his past 6 races at Talladega, he has compiled 3 Top 9 finishes. While having 3 finishes of 18th, 37th and 31st. Like I said, he been up and down. With that said, he also has compiled 2 Top 9 finishes over 2 of past 3 races in the spring (April race) time. I am not sure about anyone else, but I am targeting him at Daytona. I will wait and see for Talladega, I wouldn't rule it out. Especially in the spring, I like those trends for him.
Short tracks should be good to him, as he is good at both tracks. Martinsville is a no brainier, of course. Pretty much, everyone knows how good he is there. Martinsville and Hamlin just go together. He been great here throughout his career and nothing changed recently. In his career, he has compiled an average finish of 9.2 in 22 career starts. More recently? He has compiled 5 Top 9 finishes over his past 7 races. Also, he has compiled 3 Top 3 finishes over his past 4 races. Hamlin wrecked in last spring race. I want to make a note that, Hamlin had the fastest car on the track when that happened. The 11 team had him hooked up on the long run. Bristol is another good track for him. However, I don't think it is a great track for him. When looking at his career numbers, you don't get the feel that it is his best track. But he is capable of putting up big-time numbers. He has compiled 3 Top 6 finishes over his past 6 races. Problem is, he has compiled 3 Top finishes of 20th or worse as well. So boom or bust lately for him. Not ideal, but can be a powerful option in a flash though.
Road courses been a very weird place for Hamlin. From 2006 to 2009, he was pretty good on the road courses. He compiled 3 Top 12 finishes at Sonoma and 4 Top 10 finishes at Watkins Glenn. So 7 Top 12 finishes in his first 8 races on road courses. Then, from 2010 to 2015, he compiled 2 finishes better than 20th place. One at each track of 18th (Sonoma) and 19th at WGI. What does he do last season? Finish 2nd at Sonoma and goes and win at Watkins Glenn. That's completely predicable, right? I mean, we all saw that coming, right? Yeah, I didn't think so!
In 2017, I fully expect to see inconsistency from Denny Hamlin. Over the past couple season, it's mainly came in the first half of the season. So logically, I will say that when it will likely happen. Is that set in stone? Hell no! However, we don't know so that all we have to go on. The best way to go with Hamlin is to wing it and expect the best from him. If he looks sluggish at start of the year, then avoid him. Until he looks to be hot, and then pounce on him. His best tracks are: Daytona, Martinsville, Richmond, Darlington and Indy. Those tracks been the kindest to him over the past couple seasons, so no reason to believe it will change. I believe intermediate tracks will where he will be the most consistent. Plates, shorter flats and larger flats will his strong suits. Martinsville will be really good to him and then there's the road courses. Who knows about Sonoma and Watkins Glenn! Overall, you can expect a decent year from him. I wouldn't make any bold predictions like him winning 3 or 4 races and a championship easily, but you know the normal. A couple wins and be in contention for the championship at end of the year.
**All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
Hamlin had a very good 2016 season, but like 2015, he didn't really come strong until the second half of the season. He was very strong in the second half and showed some serious muscle at times. In fact, you could say that Hamlin had his best year ever in Nascar. Yes, I know, he didn't win many races like some years. However, he had career bests in top 5 and top 10 finishes though. That's count for something, right?
Hamlin will be very strong on the intermediate tracks as usual, he's in a top ride and they are commonly the ones at the front. He may have a few bumps in the road, but I am confident in him though. His best intermediate tracks? Darlington, Texas and Charlotte. You can also make a case for him at Chicago, over the past three seasons as well. Darlington is his best track overall. Statistically, it is his best track for his career and second-best over the past two seasons. His numbers at Darlington are just incredible. It's almost unreal honestly! In 11 career starts, he has compiled 9 Top 10 finishes. Over just his past 7 races, he has finished 6th or better in 6 races. While 4 of the past 5 races, he has compiled 4 Top 4 finishes. Just to put it in perspective, In those 6 races (he's finished 6th or better in), he has compiled 3.0 average finish with 6.5 average running position and 113.4 driver rating. All three all of those categories ranked as first the series.
Texas is another really good track for Denny, even though you couldn't tell that by looking at the ''average finish'' over the past 2 seasons. Over the past 2 seasons (4 races), he has compiled 17.5 average finish with 19.0 average running position and 76.3 driver rating. I know, you are proabbly like, ''Jeff, those aren't good numbers.'' I agree, they aren't, but you have dig digger than the surface. Over the past 7 races at Texas, Hamlin has compiled 6 finishes of 13th or better. His one bad finish was 38th back in November 2015. Take out that bad finish and here are his numbers in 6 other races: 10.3 average finish (6th-best in the series) with 11.5 average running position and 90.6 driver rating. See how much difference one bad race can make? Always dig into stats, kids.
Charlotte is the final track that, I would like to look dig into. Charlotte has been a great track for Denny over the past couple seasons, but his numbers get drug down because of one poor finish. He finished 30th in last fall race, after leading 52 laps. That's his lone non-top 10 finish, since 22nd in May 2014. Over the past 13 races at Charlotte, he has compiled 11 Top 10 finishes. More recently, he has compiled 4 Top 9 finishes over his past 5 races. While 2 of his past 3 races has ended in 4th. This is a great track for him and no reason to believe why it would change.
Shorter flats are considered his best type of track overall. All three tracks are ranked among his top 6 tracks in average finish for his career. I would say that Richmond is his best shorter flat track though. It is hard to find another track (other than Dalrington or Martinsville) that Denny has found as much success on. He did go in as slump from September 2012 to April 2015, where he didn't finish better than 18th. That 5-race stench was the worst of his career by far at Richmond. The 6 races prior to that 5-race stench, he posted 4 top 4 finishes in 6 races. That was from September 2009 to April 2012. In that span, he had 2 wins and another 2nd place run. I think he has returned to Hammy's form at Richmond though. Over his past three races at Richmond, he has compiled 3 straight top 6 finishes. Including a dominant win last fall, where he led 189 laps on his way to victory lane. Even at 189 laps led, it is only good enough for 5th-most laps led in a single race at this track. Just again shows how good, he has been at this place.
New Hampshire is another good track for Denny Hamlin. In his first 14 starts at this track (from July 2006 to September 2012), he has 8 Top 9 finishes with 6 of them ending in 3rd or better. His numbers has dipped in his past 8 races at the track, which is why I called it a good track. Not a great track, like it was from 2006 to 2012. Over the past 8 races at New Hampshire, he has compiled 5 finishes of 15th or better. Not great, but he is making gains it seems though. Over the past three races, he has two finishes of 9th or better. With 4 of the past 6 races, he has posted a driver rating of 97.7 or better. That's a good sign, he's making strides again.
Phoenix will always be a good track for Denny Hamlin! He been just as good there recently too. Over his past 5 races, he has compiled 4 finishes of 8th or better. I say from November 2006 to November 2012 was Hamlin's prime at Phoenix. Then like a lot of other tracks, he's hit 2013 to 2015. Of course, his past three races there been really good. In that 3 race span, he has compiled 6.0 average finish with 8.7 average running position and 100.0 driver rating. He's solid, people!
Larger flats was really good to Denny Hamlin in 2016! He compiled 8.7 average finish with 11.0 average finish with 94.6 driver rating. That's very solid! Pocono is a great track for Denny. He has compiled 4 wins in just 22 starts at the track. Hamlin use to be the master here, but has fell off in recent years. Still, I consider this as a pretty good place for him. Over the past 6 races at Pocono, he has compiled 4 Top 10 finishes. Not bad at all! With that said, only one of those finishes ended in the top 5. Digging deeper, 5 of his past 8 races ended in the top 10 as well. He may not win, but he's solid bet for Pocono.
Indy should be another good track for him. He been running well there lately. There was a time where Indy was considered one of Denny's worst tracks. In his first 6 starts, he was only able to post 2 Top 10 finishes. And 3 Top 15 overalls. 50% isn't a great numbers to say. How about over his past 5 races there? Well, he has compiled 4 finishes of 6th or better. His non-top 6 was back in 2013. That was the season, where he got injured at Cali. After the he had to sit out several races (before returning), but was never the same. I blame his poor finish on that. Since then, he has posted 3 straight Top 5 finishes at Indy.
Plate tracks has been his best type of racetrack over the past couple seasons and no driver in the series been better at them. Daytona been where, Hamlin been shinning the brightest at though. Over the past 4 races at Daytona, he has compiled 5.8 average finish with 7.8 average running position and 107.2 driver rating. Ranked first in all of those categories, by the way. Talladega been a little up and down over the past couple seasons. Over his past 6 races at Talladega, he has compiled 3 Top 9 finishes. While having 3 finishes of 18th, 37th and 31st. Like I said, he been up and down. With that said, he also has compiled 2 Top 9 finishes over 2 of past 3 races in the spring (April race) time. I am not sure about anyone else, but I am targeting him at Daytona. I will wait and see for Talladega, I wouldn't rule it out. Especially in the spring, I like those trends for him.
Short tracks should be good to him, as he is good at both tracks. Martinsville is a no brainier, of course. Pretty much, everyone knows how good he is there. Martinsville and Hamlin just go together. He been great here throughout his career and nothing changed recently. In his career, he has compiled an average finish of 9.2 in 22 career starts. More recently? He has compiled 5 Top 9 finishes over his past 7 races. Also, he has compiled 3 Top 3 finishes over his past 4 races. Hamlin wrecked in last spring race. I want to make a note that, Hamlin had the fastest car on the track when that happened. The 11 team had him hooked up on the long run. Bristol is another good track for him. However, I don't think it is a great track for him. When looking at his career numbers, you don't get the feel that it is his best track. But he is capable of putting up big-time numbers. He has compiled 3 Top 6 finishes over his past 6 races. Problem is, he has compiled 3 Top finishes of 20th or worse as well. So boom or bust lately for him. Not ideal, but can be a powerful option in a flash though.
Road courses been a very weird place for Hamlin. From 2006 to 2009, he was pretty good on the road courses. He compiled 3 Top 12 finishes at Sonoma and 4 Top 10 finishes at Watkins Glenn. So 7 Top 12 finishes in his first 8 races on road courses. Then, from 2010 to 2015, he compiled 2 finishes better than 20th place. One at each track of 18th (Sonoma) and 19th at WGI. What does he do last season? Finish 2nd at Sonoma and goes and win at Watkins Glenn. That's completely predicable, right? I mean, we all saw that coming, right? Yeah, I didn't think so!
In 2017, I fully expect to see inconsistency from Denny Hamlin. Over the past couple season, it's mainly came in the first half of the season. So logically, I will say that when it will likely happen. Is that set in stone? Hell no! However, we don't know so that all we have to go on. The best way to go with Hamlin is to wing it and expect the best from him. If he looks sluggish at start of the year, then avoid him. Until he looks to be hot, and then pounce on him. His best tracks are: Daytona, Martinsville, Richmond, Darlington and Indy. Those tracks been the kindest to him over the past couple seasons, so no reason to believe it will change. I believe intermediate tracks will where he will be the most consistent. Plates, shorter flats and larger flats will his strong suits. Martinsville will be really good to him and then there's the road courses. Who knows about Sonoma and Watkins Glenn! Overall, you can expect a decent year from him. I wouldn't make any bold predictions like him winning 3 or 4 races and a championship easily, but you know the normal. A couple wins and be in contention for the championship at end of the year.
**All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
