Denny Hamlin has often expressed his desire to spend his entire career with one number, one team, and one sponsor. Unfortunately for him, one of those variables is at risk right now. Reports of FedEx quitting NASCAR at the end of the ongoing season have been emerging and this means that the logistical giant’s ties with Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing will be severed soon.
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FedEx has been associated with Hamlin since 2005 as a major sponsor for the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing team. At the height of the association, the company spent nearly $25 million a year just in rights fees. However, in 2021, it began cutting back on its expenses and Joe Gibbs Racing began looking for other sponsors to fill its space. This was when it became clear that a break was coming.
Every sponsor Denny Hamlin has won a race with:
FedEx – 47
Sport Clips – 2
Offerpad – 1
Mavis/Express Oil – 4 pic.twitter.com/eZD8J1KKw7— RJ (@Jimmie_DennyFan) July 11, 2024
With the inflow of the latest reports, Hamlin all but confirmed the news in Kansas. He told Frontstretch, “It’s been a fantastic partnership that we’ve had for nearly 20 years. They’re the ones that really took a risk on me when I was just running the Xfinity Series about fifth to eighth (place) every week, and J.D. Gibbs said this is the move we want to make and put him in there.”
“So, they’re the ones that really took a risk. So certainly, that risk paid off for many, many years and I couldn’t be happier to be aligned with FedEx.” He continued to note how FedEx has given back to the community like no other brand has and expressed that he is extremely proud to represent them. He added, “We’re going to continue to represent them on and off the race track for a time to come.”
How would FedEx quitting affect Hamlin’s retirement plans?
So far in 2024, FedEx has been the primary sponsor in only nine races. It will be so in Kansas this Sunday as well. If this is the final year for the company in NASCAR then one can’t expect Hamlin to stick around with the #11 team much longer either. However, it ought to be noted that he is under contract with the team and will have to stay put at least until the end of the 2025 season.
Whether he has an option year in his contract with the team isn’t public information yet. However, he will be 46 years old at the end of the 2026 Cup Series season. If he does still want to race at that age – not something many drivers want to do nowadays – he could be seen carrying the banner of a different outfit. And that is most likely to be 23XI Racing.
Back when he was a guest on the Harvick Happy Hour podcast, he said that there was a part of him that wanted to race for 23XI Racing before retirement. But then he also wanted to stay loyal to Joe Gibbs. Either way, FedEx quitting NASCAR is yet another indicator that a glorious era of the sport is moving toward a complete shutdown. Hamlin might in fact be the last remaining piece of it.
