A¦er three years competing on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the Cup Series returns to the iconic 2.5mile oval on Sunday. There are not many people as excited as Denny Hamlin for the “back to the future” Brickyard 400 presented by PPG.

“It’s a special time for us to be back on the oval,” Hamlin said in June. “It puts a NASCAR major back on our schedule – certainly one I’ve been searching to win all of my career. When I come here, it’s about the oval. I would value this win as much as any in my career.”

Outside of a series championship, a Brickyard 400 victory is the only other thing missing from the future Hall of Famer’s gleaming resume.

Hamlin boasts 54 Cup Series wins, including four Southern 500 victories, three Daytona 500 triumphs, three Bristol night race wins and a 2022 Coca-Cola 600 win. With eight combined wins in NASCAR “major” races, Hamlin is 0-for-15 on the IMS oval.

But Hamlin has been close to kissing the bricks. He has seven top-six ¨nishes, including ¨ve in the last seven starts on the oval.

Hamlin was well on his way to a 2018 Brickyard 400 victory before a late-race caution negated his tire strategy. He was on older Goodyear tires than most other cars in the ¨eld and needed the race to reach the checkered ©ag without any yellow interventions.

Unfortunately, that caution did occur. Brad Keselowski prevailed, giving Team Penske its ¨rst Brickyard 400 win on a day Hamlin led 37 laps.