Money makes the wheels turn in NASCAR, and sponsorship dictates who keeps a seat and who is left standing in the garage. Drivers have lost rides when their financial backing dried up. Even stars are not immune to it, as seen when Kyle Busch parted ways with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2022 after the loss of his long-time sponsor. It works the other way, too.
Advertisement
Drivers such as Cleetus McFarland and Toni Breidinger have landed chances to drive after bringing sponsors to the table. Denny Hamlin recently talked about that side of the sport, explaining that landing backing is a race that never ends.
With Chase Briscoe ready to compete in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Las Vegas, Hamlin was asked about his own plans to run a race in NASCAR’s second tier on a superspeedway. He had shown interest in it before.
“I’m torn on it. I would like to. Sponsorship is the biggest climb. To do that is to find someone that wants to sponsor me for a race or maybe two,” replied Hamlin.
“My career ending objective was that I wanted to win my last start in every series, and I won my last start in O’Reilly, so I don’t want to mess that up now,” continued the 45-year-old.
“I need to go back down to the truck series, win a race, quit that one, and then give myself a chance, hopefully at the end of next year, to win the last Cup start,” added the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
Hamlin said that finding backing for a one-off race can feel like pushing a boulder uphill. Many top teams run full schedules with sponsors already in place, leaving few openings for part-time deals. Also, the ROI can be hard to justify to a sponsor who puts up funds for one race, gets one round of exposure, and the deal ends when the checkered flag waves.
It’s hard for even HOF drivers like Denny Hamlin to get sponsorship in the lower series
From @NoahReedReports pic.twitter.com/WDq6Pdcqi0
— Charlie Marlow (@CharlieMarlow_) March 14, 2026
So, most deals come with a string of races rather than a single outing. And Hamlin doesn’t want to sign on for a long schedule just to make one appearance. That said, he has not closed the door on a return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Hamlin would like to win one last time in that series before stepping away for good. He came close to making that happen at Darlington Raceway, where a Truck race is scheduled next week. However, the pieces never fell into place.
The No. 11 Toyota driver hopes to tackle a track that can separate the field. A mile-and-a-half layout sits high on his list. After all, those are venues that often draw attention from sponsors and teams alike.
