Kevin Harvick issues a clear message to Denny Hamlin’s NASCAR rivals

Kevin Harvick weighed in on Denny Hamlin's recent momentum following a streak of three consecutive top-3 finishes. He noted that Hamlin appears to be 'hitting on all cylinders' and suggested that his rivals will have to 'deal' with him as the season goes on.

Starting from the race at Nashville Superspeedway, Hamlin has qualified among the top-3 and remained as such during the checkered flag, with his best result coming from a race win at Michigan International Speedway. He had to drop out of the Mexico City race for the birth of his third child, but came back to secure his first pole of the season at Pocono Raceway.

He went on to lead 32 of the 160-lap affair, but finished behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe, who went on to lead 72 laps enroute his maiden of the season. With three wins this season, Hamlin is one of the most winningest driver on the grid, while Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson are the only other drivers to match his win tally.

Reflecting upon the same, Harvick spoke about Hamlin's recent comeback at Pocono.

"For him to come back, I think he knew that he needed to make a statement.....I think he did exactly what everybody thought he was going to do and that was qualify on the pole and be a contender as he went through the race. But you know, the 11 is definitely hitting on all cylinders and I think as as you go through the rest of the year you're going to have to deal with them," he said via Happy Hour podcast. [11:07 onwards]

Denny Hamlin is currently ranked third in the driver's standings with 545 points and eight top-5 finishes to his name. His JGR teammate, Christopher Bell, trails him by a single point at fourth, while the Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron lead him in the rankings.

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Denny Hamlin opens up about missing out on Pocono win

After his runner-up placing at Pocono Raceway, Denny Hamlin revealed the 'unprecedented' outcome if he'd taken the win instead. The #11 Toyota driver took his podcast Actions Detrimental and discussed his recent run of form.

"Had I won this week, I would be on an unprecedented heater. I mean I still probably am on the track off-track. Like, we're white-hot right now." [02:45]

During the end stages of The Great American Getaway 400, Denny Hamlin was radioed in about a possible fuel shortage for Chase Briscoe. Hamlin hoped to capitalise on the setback, but Briscoe managed to hold off the 44-year old and finished ahead with a narrow margin of 0.682 seconds.

Hamlin spoke to the media post-race and reflected upon the nailbitter of a finish.

I thought he was going to run out. So at that point I was just trying to save my car, but keep him honest. I just couldn’t quite get close enough to not allow him to save fuel,” he admitted

Up next, Denny Hamlin heads to the In-Season Challenge at Echopark Speedway as the No.1 seeded driver, followed by Briscoe.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma