For 18 years Denny Hamlin has been a top dog in the NASCAR Cup Series. Always a threat, always a competition. As the Joe Gibbs Racing star heads to Daytona to get the engine started on his 19th year behind the wheel of the #11 Toyota, he can see many things on the horizon, but retirement isn’t one of them.
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Reasoning why he is still racing when most of his contemporaries have called it quits, Hamlin says that it is because he still feels very competitive. He admits, “The moment I feel like I can’t win at every track, I’ll probably get out whenever that might be. But I just feel like I’m still on top of things.”
Hamlin barely missed out on the Championship 4 races in the last two seasons. Despite the disappointments that keep coming his way, he puts in his absolute best every year and that progresses him upward. He added about the same, “I can still run fast lap times and practice qualifying in the race. Like, I just feel as though I keep getting better.”
Hamlin’s words are backed by the performances that he pulls on the race track. He secured 3 wins in 2023 and has now kicked off 2024 with a win in the Busch Light Clash.
Could a Cup Series championship make Hamlin hang up his racing suit?
Looking at all the hard work that Hamlin puts in and the missing spot in his trophy cabinet, one might conclude that he is gunning for a Cup Series title. But that is way off from Hamlin’s truth. He would love nothing more than to be called champion. However, there is something that interests him more.
Hamlin believes that punching 61 in the number of Cup Series wins would mean more for his legacy than a championship title. He said, “We can talk about championships but there’s been champions with 12 wins total, right? And so I just would rather get in the upper echelon of race winners.”
Hamlin has 51 wins in his career thus far. Surpassing his personal goal of 60 wins would put him in the top 10 most-winning drivers of NASCAR. The Joe Gibbs Racing star will pilot the new Toyota Camry XSE in the upcoming season. Having sent a strong warning to his contenders in the Busch Light Clash, he will be hoping to kick the season off on the right note at Daytona.
