Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Harvick breaks down why it’s hard to beat 'STUD' Denny Hamlin

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Justin P Joy | Last updated 5/4/24

Since the start of the Next-Gen era, Denny Hamlin has been the lead driver at Toyota. He has outclassed the likes Martin Truex Jr. to be the main man at Joe Gibbs Racing and is now a Superstar of the sport off the track as well due to his investment to content creating. With three wins from 11 races in 2024, he is the leading contender for the title.

Denny Hamlin recently claimed that he has one of the best crew in the sport and he is right to say that, as his crew chief Chris Gabehart who joined the No:11 team in 2019 has made them a solid side. Since the duo came together, they have won 22 races and has secured top-5 finish in the championship every season together.

Hamlin currently has 54 Cup race win and is in line to break the 60-race win mark. Kevin Harvick, who retired from the sport with 60 race wins in 2023, expects it to happen next season. He highlighted the compatibility of Gabehart and Hamlin, claiming both of them are studs who believes each other very much. This makes them very hard to beat.

He’s gonna blow my doors off. I don’t think this year. I think those guys are hitting on all cylinders. I mean, Chris Gabehart is a stud, right? I mean, Denny Hamlin’s a stud. When you have two guys that believe in each other as much as they do right now, it’s hard to beat them. Kevin Harvick said via Happy Hour Podcast.

Kevin Harvick expects a Denny Hamlin to have season like his 2020

2020 Cup season, was one of the best years Kevin Harvick had in the sport. He and his crew chief were in a fine form the whole season and it helped them to bag nine race win, but unfortunately lost the title to Chase Elliott. The title story aside, Harvick expects Denny Hamlin to dominate the same way he did.

I think we won nine or ten races in whatever year that was, and it was a contest. Hey! This is a great start. Let’s dig in here and treat this like a championship week every single week to go out and see how many races you can win. Because you never know when you’re going to have another year like this. Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart are switched on. Kevin Harvick said.

Denny Hamlin has already proclaimed that he expects his team to be a contender for the win all of the races left this year other than the Road Courses which are a tough ask. With this confidence and the fats Toyota Camry’s JGR are fielding, Hamlin isn’t being overconfident with his claims.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: