Denny Hamlin, who has won the past two Bristol Cup races, enters Saturday night's race six points below the cutline.

The house of horrors that was Denny Hamlin’s opening Round of 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs finally had a well-timed bright spot, one that lifted the veteran out of a daunting postseason deficit.

Hamlin's 54 career victories on NASCAR's top circuit are more than any driver without a Cup Series championship, although he has come close. He was runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in 2010, finished third twice and has been one of the four drivers eligible for the title in the season finale four times in all, only to come up empty.