Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski will be racing for different reasons in the upcoming Daytona 500. The Joe Gibbs Racing superstar will try to get his 4th win in the prestigious race while the latter will be hoping to fill a long-lasting void in his resume by getting his maiden win in the 500. Regardless of these reasons, both drivers could create new records in the race’s history by the end of the weekend.
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Hamlin has run in 18 Daytona 500s in his career. Of these, he has won 3 and led the most laps in 4. Should he lead the most laps in the coming edition of the race, he will be the first to be a lap leader 5 times in event history. The total number of laps that he has led in the #11 amounts to 480. That puts him in the top 5 list of drivers who’ve led the most laps in the Daytona 500.
Brad Keselowski, on the other hand, has run in 14 of the 65 races thus far. Though the winning column has been empty for the RFK Racing co-owner of late, he did lead the most laps in the season opener of the last two years. He led 67 laps in 2022 and 42 laps in 2023. In the scenario that he does so once again this year, he will have the longest laps-led streak in event history.
Something to watch for in the 2024 Daytona 500
If Denny Hamlin leads the most laps, it’ll be the 5th time he’s done so in the race, more than anyone in history.
If Brad Keselowski leads the most laps, it’ll be the 3rd straight year he’s done so, the longest streak in history. pic.twitter.com/qD2EJBaLeg
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) February 17, 2024
How do Hamlin and Keselowski hold up next to Daytona 500 master Richard Petty?
Comparing these two star-drivers to a legendary counterpart from yesteryear, the differences are stark. Richard “King” Petty mastered the Daytona 500 game in his day and won it 7 times but that’s not all he did. He holds the record for the most laps led in a single Daytona 500 (184/200 in 1964). He also sits at the pinnacle with a total of 780 laps led in the race, a tough figure to overcome for both Hamlin and Keselowski.
While Hamlin is up there closer to Petty, Keselowski has led a total of 177 laps in his Daytona 500 appearances. He says of it, “I would trade all the laps led for a lead on the last lap, I can tell you that.” Retiring his career without this feather on his cap will be a strong pill to take regardless of other achievements. While lap records are certainly enticing rewards, when the green flag is waved the racers will be driving more to add on to their victory lane visits in the superspeedway.
