Denny Hamlin Closing In on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Impressive NASCAR Stat

Denny Hamlin has one glaring similarity with Dale Earnhardt Jr when talking about his NASCAR career – Multiple Daytona 500 wins without any Cup Series titles. While Junior concluded his racing journey years ago, Hamlin continues to strive for at least one championship title in his career. Interestingly, as we approach this weekend to race at the Nashville Superspeedway, there is one insane statistic that Denny Hamlin will share with Earnhardt Jr.

While it may not seem significant, it is something special, considering the amount of time both drivers have spent at the highest level of NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin is about to match Dale Earnhardt Jr. in this regard

After this weekend’s race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will have a total of 631 total career Cup Series starts, the same number of starts that Dale Earnhardt Jr had during his long and illustrious career.

Denny Hamlin will tie Dale Earnhardt Jr for career starts this Sunday at Nashville.

They will be tied for 30th on the all-time starts list in the Cup Series, with 631. pic.twitter.com/XcQFZCUJAG

— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) June 23, 2023

While Junior will never get the chance to get a championship anymore, Hamlin still has the chance, as he is still racing at a competitive level on a weekly basis in the Cup Series. Over his career Hamlin has raked up 49 wins and plenty of close finishes in the Championship race, the most heartbreaking being his runner-up finish to Jimmie Johnson in 2010.

How did Junior fare in the NASCAR Cup Series?

The North Carolina native had a rather long and impressive career. Probably not as successful as his father before him, who won seven championships in his lifetime. Moving that fact aside, one impressive stat that Junior holds is that he won the Most Popular Driver Award every single year from 2003 to 2017. Junior also holds 26 Cup Series victories to his name.

Unfortunately, after suffering from concussion-like symptoms, Junior had to take some time off racing in 2016. He eventually ended up retiring from the sport at the end of the 2017 season. One can only wonder had he stayed on, maybe he would have had a few more shots at that coveted Cup Series championship title perhaps.

A Cup Series title would have added that extra something to an already-storeyed career for Dale Jr. For Denny Hamlin’s sake, he hopes this is one statistic that he does not share with Earnhardt.