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NASCAR Announcer Makes Big Prediction For Denny Hamlin

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Mar 25, 2025 5:39 PM ET

Kevin Harvick thinks Denny Hamlin will get over the hump on Sunday.

Hamlin moved to eighth in the Cup Series standings after placing fifth at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has three top-10 finishes, including a runner-up result at Phoenix, but he's searching for his first win since April 28.

Harvick believes that drought will end this Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin has won five races and notched a top-five finish in each of the last four years. The 2020 champion, now working as a FOX broadcaster, called Hamlin the "king of Martinsville."

"It seems that they've kind of found their groove," Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast. "Steady and consistent, leading some laps, won a stage just last weekend, got a sponsor [Progressive] on the side of the car. All that noise, it just keeps getting quieter and quieter for Denny Hamlin because he just keeps putting himself in a position to perform well."

Later in the podcast, Harvick formally predicted a Hamlin victory.

"I think that this is his track," Harvick said. "I think they have put themselves in a position to take advantage of the weekend, and this is the week that he goes to victory lane."

After placing 25th at Las Vegas, Hamlin led for 15 laps last Sunday. He still was underwhelmed by the Straight Talk Wireless 400 results.

LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 14: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Mavis Tire Toyota, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.com at Pocono Raceway on July 14, 2024 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)James Gilbert/Getty Images

"Not a great day," Hamlin said. "A good day. Just needed a little more speed."

Six races into the 2025 season, Hamlin feels he and his fellow Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have considerable room for improvement.

"I still think we got work to do," he said. "I contend that we don't have the speed that it takes to lead a ton of laps, which is showing in laps led. We're not leading laps like we have in the past, all of JGR. We got to get our cars a little bit faster to really contend week in, week out."

Sunday's Martinsville race starts at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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