It is incredibly difficult to win three races in a row in NASCAR's Gen 7 era, yet Denny Hamlin's short track stats potentially set up the second three-win streak of the 2025 Cup Series season.
Hamlin, who won at Martinsville and Darlington, leads all Cup drivers with five short track wins in the Next Gen era. Two of these wins were at Bristol, the next track on the schedule.
Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney are second with three wins each. Blaney has one win at Iowa and two at Martinsville. Larson has one win at Richmond, one at Martinsville, and one at Bristol since 2022.
Larson's most recent trip to the Tennessee short track was a dominant performance as he led 462 of the 500 laps while sweeping the stages.
Chris Buescher and William Byron have two short track wins each in the Gen 7 era. Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, and Austin Dillon have all scored one short track win in the new Cup Series car.
Hamlin scored his first short track win with the new car during the 2022 season. He captured the spring race at Richmond after leading the final five laps.
He then won the 2023 Bristol playoff race, the 2024 Bristol spring race, and the 2024 Richmond spring race. His fifth win was at Martinsville two weekends ago.
Hamlin was also in the lead coming to the finish line in the 2024 summer Richmond race. He took advantage of Dillon knocking Joey Logano out of the way, and he jumped to the front of the pack. However, Dillon then sent Hamlin into the wall before crossing the finish line.
While Hamlin has the best statistics at tracks under 1 mile in length since 2022, he does not have the best odds to win.
BetMGM puts Larson at +400 entering the weekend, making him the favorite. Hamlin is second at +425. Bell, the first driver to win three consecutive races in the Gen 7 era, is third at +650.
Blaney at +750 and Chase Elliott at +900 round out the top five in BetMGM's Bristol odds.