"His clock is ticking": Kenny Wallace backs Denny Hamlin as his pick over Byron, Larson, and Briscoe for the NASCAR championship

Kenny Wallace picked his favorite driver, Denny Hamlin, ahead of the all-important race at Phoenix next week. Wallace, the former NASCAR driver, named Hamlin as his favorite, while keeping William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Chase Briscoe at bay.

Following the last playoff race at Martinsville last weekend, Byron ended up as one of the two drivers to have qualified for the final round. Along with Byron, his teammate, Larson also qualified for the Championship 4.

Prior to them, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe have qualified for the Phoenix race. Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, and last year's champion and runner-up, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, failed to make it past the round of 8.

As Hamlin qualified for the final round for the first time since 2021, he was picked by Wallace as his driver in the Championship 4. Speaking to this, here's what the former NASCAR driver said in his recent video on X:

"I say, my choice is gonna be Denny Hamlin. To win it out with William Byron, those two are gonna go at it. But I think is gonna win it all. I want him to win it all. This is because of my feeling that Denny's gonna run a couple more years, his clock is ticking and I think it'd be a great win."

If Hamlin wins, this will be the first time the #11 driver will lift a championship in over two decades of racing in the most premium form of stock car racing. However, last year's third-place driver, William Byron, is expected to give him stiff competition along with Larson and Briscoe.

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Denny Hamlin let his feelings known ahead of Championship 4 race at Phoenix

Following the race at Martinsville, Denny Hamlin shared his thoughts. Speaking about his expectations ahead of the all-important upcoming race at Phoenix, here's what the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said:

Denny Hamlin (11) during NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 Qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. - Source: Imagn

"We’ll work on it I guess and try to get them next week. I’m obviously concerned (about the mechanical problems), but there obviously nothing I can do about it. We’ll live with it and hopefully we’ll get back next week and we are just going to have to see how it goes." "I’m confident in the speed that we’ll have next week. I’m really confident in what this team is going to bring next week and we’ll bring our best, hopefully it lasts," he further added. (Via NBC)

Denny Hamlin has six wins this season, along with 14 Top 5s and 17 Top 10s. He faced four DNFs in 34 races and led 816 laps. His average start position has been 12.265, and his average finish position has been 14.206.

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Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas