Hamlin not focused on points finish

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Denny Hamlin is not necessarily focused on where he winds up finishing in the final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship standings; he’s focused on snapping a 46-race winless streak.

Hamlin enters the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 in 11th place in the standings, four points behind 10th-place Kyle Larson. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has finished among the top 10 in points 10 times, including the last four seasons.

“It’s important but it’s not,” Hamlin said to The Racing Experts. “It’s a stat that nobody will ever know two years from now.

“No one keeps track of who finishes where in points every single year but for our race team, it’s important. We know we are a top-10 team, we don’t need points to show us that. We’re strong, we’re kind of peaking at the wrong time. We kind of needed this a little earlier in the season.”

Other drivers who finished top-10 in points 10 times are Buck Baker, James Hylton and Jim Paschal, tying all four drivers for 17th all-time on that list.

Hamlin will start from the pole Sunday in search of his first victory of 2018.

“All I can focus on is trying to win the race, and we’ll end up wherever we end up,” Hamlin said.

The Ford EcoBoost 400 will be televised live on NBC Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info