"Stubbs: Bristol a Perfect Location for Hamlin's Third Consecutive Victory"

Denny Hamlin has the opportunity to achieve a feat that no other NASCAR Cup Series driver has accomplished since March. Despite it only being a month since the last time this was achieved, it would still be incredibly impressive.

Christopher Bell's three consecutive wins at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas, and Phoenix Raceway may diminish the significance of what Hamlin could achieve in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. However, winning three NASCAR races in a row is no small accomplishment. If Hamlin crosses the finish line first, it would mark his third consecutive victory after winning at Martinsville Speedway (March 30) and Darlington Raceway (April 6).

Bristol is the ideal location for Hamlin to go for his third consecutive win. In the four Next-Gen races held at "Thunder Valley," Hamlin has never finished worse than ninth. This four-race stretch includes wins in the 2023 Bristol night race and the 2024 Food City 500.

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While Hamlin's finishes at Bristol before the current era vary more widely, there is no denying that Bristol has been his playground with the Next-Gen car.

Hamlin faces a strong field of competitors who could end his two-race winning streak.

Kyle Larson has never finished worse than fifth at Bristol in the Next-Gen era. The winner of the 2024 Bristol night race is seeking his own piece of history this weekend, as he aims to become the first driver other than Kyle Busch to sweep all three NASCAR races in a single weekend.

Hamlin will not win a third consecutive race without facing competition from the last driver to achieve this feat. Bell has never finished worse than 10th in the four Bristol races with the Next-Gen car, and in eight races this season, he has five top-five finishes. After a disappointing two-race stretch at Las Vegas and Homestead (12th, 29th), the No. 20 team bounced back with top-five finishes at Martinsville and Darlington.

Comparing Hamlin's potential streak to Bell's and the drivers who have won three in a row before them adds more context to Hamlin's current run. In 2021, Larson won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, Sonoma, and Nashville consecutively. Before Bell, he was the last driver to win three races in a row, and nearly made it four at Pocono before a flat tire on the final lap gave the win to Alex Bowman.

In 2018, Brad Keselowski won the Southern 500 at Darlington, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, and the Cup Series playoff opener at Las Vegas consecutively. Like the drivers who won three in a row after him, Keselowski achieved his three wins at three very different racetracks.

The bottom line? Winning three NASCAR Cup Series races in a row is no easy task, especially in a modern era where the schedule offers a variety of different racing disciplines. Only the best drivers can accomplish such a feat.

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Just look at the drivers who came before Keselowski, Larson, and Bell. Jimmie Johnson won four Chase races in a row in 2007 on his way to his second consecutive championship, while Mark Martin won four in a row in the summer of 1993. In 1992, Bill Elliott won four of the first five races of the season before ultimately falling just short of the 1992 championship.

Hamlin's resume and legacy already rival those of the drivers whose feat he will attempt to match at the "Last Great Colosseum" on Sunday. However, winning three races in a row would just be another accolade on a long list of accomplishments for a man who is currently the best driver in NASCAR history to never win a Cup Series title.

--Samuel Stubbs, Field Level Media