USA TODAY US Edition

Keep eye on Hamlin at Bristol

On breakthrou­gh quests, Stenhouse, Dillon also appear to be serious threats

- Brant James @brantjames USA TODAY Sports

Jimmie Johnson took himself out of the when’s-he-going-to-finally-win conversati­on when he found victory lane April 9 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Coming off the first idle week of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, most everyone else remains in that unwanted company heading to Bristol Motor Speedway.

Fortunes can be undone in moments on the high-banked short track, but a select group of drivers — several of whom have made the playoffs — have hope to finally bank the first victory of the season — and, in two cases, of their careers.

USA TODAY Sports’ Brant James selects five drivers who could break through Sunday (2 p.m. ET, Fox):

Denny Hamlin: His middling campaign has been in keeping with Joe Gibbs Racing ’s sluggish follow-up to a dominating 2016 effort in which it helped Toyota win a first manufactur­er’s title in Cup. He is 15th in points with an average finish of 20th and is coming off a 25th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway. Hamlin can be encouraged entering the Bristol bullring, though. He won there in 2012 and has finished third twice since then. Full disclosure: All those came in the fall race, held at night.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: The Roush Fenway Racing driver has four top-10s in eight Cup starts at the 0.533-mile track. He finished second for the second time last fall. He also was second in the spring race in 2014. After a long slog through the Cup hinterland, he and the organizati­on have shown glimmers of hope on smaller tracks this season, with Stenhouse finishing fourth at Phoenix Raceway and 10th at Martinsvil­le Speedway. A first Cup win could be close. Jamie McMurray: The Ganassi Racing teammate of points leader Kyle Larson is wielding cars being produced by arguably Chevrolet’s most consistent team right now. With 11 top-10s in 28 starts — including an eighth- place finish last fall — McMurray has been a steady producer at Bristol in recent seasons.

Clint Bowyer: He has been eager for another chance at any track in his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing, but Bowyer could be angling for his first win since 2012. He has six top-fives in 22 Bristol starts and was eighth last spring in a stopgap season at HScott Motorsport­s. That was his second-best result of 2016. Now ninth in points and a weekly contender, Bowyer might be ready for a bottled-up celebratio­n.

Austin Dillon: The Richard Childress Racing driver has made six starts at Bristol and has two top-10s — and finishes of 11th and 13th — and was fourth last fall. A fifth-place result at Martinsvil­le began his spring Southern shorttrack campaign. It could continue with a first Cup victory.

 ?? JASEN VINLOVE, USA TODAY SPORTS ?? Denny Hamlin has one victory in 22 Cup starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, having won the fall race there in 2012.
JASEN VINLOVE, USA TODAY SPORTS Denny Hamlin has one victory in 22 Cup starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, having won the fall race there in 2012.

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