Denny Hamlin notched up his 3rd win of the 2024 season after a last-stage duel with HMS’ Kyle Larson at Dover. The result was the 54th win of his Cup career, tied with Lee Petty, putting Hamlin one win behind Rusty Wallace. The JGR driver, who has won the most Cup races without winning the title, insisted in the post-race media interaction that if he gets to 60 wins with no title, he would be more than happy when he hangs his helmet.
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Expressing that there have been worse drivers who have won a title, Hamlin expressed, “Find one driver saying that championships are the same as they were 10 years ago, it’s just not. I care about wins and winning every single week because in the end I absolutely would take 60-some wins and no championship over 20 and one. It’s just not even close.”
Case in point being Lee Petty, who is tied with Hamlin on 54 wins but has three titles at the highest level of American stock car racing. Tony Stewart, with five less wins than the #11 driver, has three Cup Series titles. The list of drivers who have less wins than Hamlin but are NASCAR champions is long but clearly, that does not leave him unsettled.
As for this season, he is off to a surreal start, winning at Bristol, Richmond, and Dover in addition to his victory at the Busch Light Clash.
Hamlin has fallen short at the final hurdle multiple times
Hamlin, who has been extremely vocal about the current Championship 4 format and its shortcomings, has fallen at the final hurdle far too many times for his liking.
The three-time Daytona 500 winner has made the final round four times since its introduction in 2014, trailing only Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano in that number. All the other drivers have won championships (Busch and Logano have two each) and it almost always seems that something will eventually go wrong for Hamlin.
Starting this season at a blistering pace, the JGR driver, like the years past, knows all too well that his real season begins in September.
