The Cup Series race at Darlington officially marked the end of the 2024 Cup Series regular season. 16 drivers have been locked into the playoffs and will be competing against each other to be the champion. The list of qualified names has turned out to be a surprise this time since key contenders such as Kyle Busch have missed out. This, in turn, has allowed for new historical records to be set.
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Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was one of the earliest drivers to make the cut. He won at Bristol, and then at Richmond, and at Dover. This made him create an 11-season streak of consistently qualifying for the playoffs. That is, he has been one of the best 16 drivers on the field every year since the current playoff format was introduced.
Denny Hamlin has made his 11th NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (all of them), the most of ANY driver
Before today, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were tied for the most Playoff appearances. pic.twitter.com/53S7dvL3Au
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) September 2, 2024
Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch and now-retired driver Kevin Harvick were the only two who could’ve equaled him in this stat. But Busch failed to qualify in Darlington and Harvick no longer takes to the car. Interestingly, Busch almost caused a huge upset but managed to only get to second place on Sunday. He had finished runner-up in the earlier race at Daytona as well.
He could’ve shared the dais with Hamlin had he been able to pass the race winner Chase Briscoe in the final moments. But it was all too little too late for him after a largely mediocre regular season. Hamlin goes into battle now sitting sixth in the playoff standings. He will be hoping to finally win a championship at least in his 11th consecutive outing.
Hamlin rejoices at finally being able to win a “championship”
23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick finished Darlington in 10th place driving his No. 45 Upper Deck Toyota Camry XSE. The position allowed him to hold a single-point advantage over Kyle Larson in the points table and be crowned the regular season champion.
As a co-owner of the team, Hamlin was extremely pleased with the result and took it to social media to express it. He shared a picture of Reddick and Michael Jordan standing alongside himself with the championship trophy and cheekily wrote, “Finally won a championship* *As an owner.”
Accomplishing such a feat in just four years of operation is not something to be taken lightly. If not for Hamlin, it could potentially be his driver who becomes a Cup Series champion in the near future.
