At 44 years of age, Denny Hamlin has only a few years left in his Cup Series career at best. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran is regarded as one of the best drivers in history. However, a sore void in his resume is that of a Cup Series championship. There is one goal that he wants to reach before calling it quits, and it is not to win a championship.
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Hamlin was in an interview with Chris Myers last month when he said that he wanted to win 60 Cup Series races by the time he retires. He currently has 54 wins and needs six more to achieve the mark.
He reasoned, “I really want to get to 60, get myself inside the top 10 of race winners in the Cup Series all time. That, to me, is the driving factor.”
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want the title. He added, “If I can get to 60 and win a championship, I mean, icing on the cake.” For now, he stands behind Rusty Wallace (55 wins) and Kevin Harvick (60 wins) in the all-time wins list. The only other active driver with a high number of wins is Kyle Busch (63 wins).
3-time #DAYTONA500 winner @DennyHamlin talks with @The_ChrisMyers. pic.twitter.com/C500rodOsj
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 16, 2025
Hamlin is currently the 12th most-winning driver in NASCAR history and is tied for the position with Lee Petty. He believes that when people talk about the greatest drivers, they are going to go down a list of names that have won the most races. He wishes for his name to be high up on that list.
Will Hamlin trade his three Daytona 500s for a Cup Series title?
Hamlin won the Daytona 500 in 2016, 2019, and 2020. Only six drivers have won the Great American Race thrice in their careers. When asked if he would trade all his Harley J. Earl trophies for a Cup Series title, he outright refused.
He said, “Not a chance. The Daytona 500, just to me, it’s the biggest race of the year.”
“It’s far bigger than our championship race. So why would I take away three Daytona 500 championships for one end-of-the-season cup?” His question shines a light on the criticisms that the season finale has been getting in recent times. Many believe that a single race at the end of the year should not decide who the champion is.
So, it is understandable why Hamlin would value the Daytona 500s more than the Cup Series finale. He came incredibly close to winning yet another Daytona 500 this season.
The checkered flag was within his sights before an untimely wreck with Austin Cindric ended his hopes in the final lap. Hopefully, he will get to take steps towards reaching the 60-win mark soon.
![The RCR team had a challenging day during the third race of the Cup season. Although Kyle Busch crossed the finish line in 5th place and had been a frontrunner, having led for 43 laps, the disappointing 35th-place finish of Austin Dillon only compounded the team's frustrating results. While Busch maintained his composure, Dillon was visibly upset with the on-track incident involving Denny Hamlin. During the race at Circuit of the Americas, on lap 78, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin were vying for the P20 position when Hamlin, after locking his #11 Toyota's tires, unexpectedly collided with the driver's side of Dillon's #3 car, hurtling it into the gravel and triggering a caution. Television replays captured a trail of dust from the Joe Gibbs Racing car just moments before it seemingly lost braking power and instigated the crash. However, the situation escalated when NASCAR shared the video of the incident with the caption, "The Nos. 3 and 11 make contact and the yellow flag flies." Unable to contain his frustration, Dillon responded sharply, "Correction. The No. 11 made contact with the No. 3." The sentiment among fans largely favored Dillon's perspective. One spectator commented, "And then his teammate wins. They knew what they were doing!" while another lamented, "Sadly if this didn't happen there a good chance @KyleBusch could have won today." Yet another chimed in, "Yep! Always cover Gibbs/Toyota/Hamlin. It’s all headline semantics. He drove into your side, video supports no attempt to steer away." Due to the caution, Bell was able to have fresher tires, which helped him pass Busch with five laps remaining. Otherwise, the old tires would have most likely slowed down the #20 car. That's why the fans blamed Hamlin for instigating a deliberate wreck that helped Bell to outpace the #8 RCR driver. However, one fan referenced a past incident to needle Dillon, recalling when he maneuvered the #11 driver into the wall at Richmond last year to secure his playoff position [which ultimately did not pan out due to NASCAR's decision], remarking, "Remember when you right rear hooked the 11 into the wall to win?" Nevertheless, the replay footage seemed to clearly show it was Hamlin who initiated the collision with the #3 driver. Dillon's frustration was quite visible during his post-race interview as well, where he expressed, "Our car handled well, and we were just trying to be patient until the end. With 18 laps to go, we were running inside the top 20, and the #11 locked up his front tires and wiped us out." "My team did a great job trying to make the repairs, but the damage in the rear was too much to fix, and we had to go to the garage." He voiced disappointment on behalf of his RCR team, lamenting that they had a car capable of finishing in the top 15, and it was unfortunate they couldn't demonstrate the same at COTA. Nevertheless, Dillon appeared optimistic about the upcoming race in Phoenix, hinting at a rebound from the setback.](https://cdn-wp.thesportsrush.com/2025/03/d8fc8a02-austin-dillon.png?format=auto&w=384&q=75)
