Denny Hamlin has 61 wins to his name in the NASCAR Cup Series after cashing in at Las Vegas last Sunday, and he now heads to Darlington with a chance to keep the meter running. A year after taking the checkered flag at the track, Hamlin has his sights set on win number 62, which would pull him within striking distance of Kyle Busch on the all-time wins list. One more trip to victory lane would move him to 62, and the gap to Busch would shrink to a single win, with his tally sitting still at 63.
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However, the Richard Childress Racing driver is seemingly unbothered by the possibility. When asked if he tracks the numbers and what he makes of Hamlin drawing near, he did not dance around it. If there were a way to hold him off, he would take it. Right now, there is not, given Busch and RCR’s form.
From where Busch stands, Hamlin has a clear path to move past him, and it could happen before the season is over. The Las Vegas native seems to own that possibility without pointing fingers at anyone else.
Ahead of the Darlington race on Sunday, he said, “No. I mean, as a driver, you want to continue to add to your total and just keep rising and rising and rising, right? And I don’t feel like I’ve been able to rise as high as I wanted to. I was hoping to get into the 70, 75 range, and that was sort of my goal that I had set, and we’ve stalled out at 63.”
“So that’s my own problem, not that Denny shouldn’t be successful in overachieving. He’s obviously a great race car driver and has many opportunities to be able to get to where he’s at. So when he does get there, then he takes that spot,” continued the No. 8 driver.
I asked @KyleBusch if there was concern that @dennyhamlin would catch him in the Cup win count
“He’ll top it this year. … I don’t feel like I’ve been able to rise as high as I wanted to. I was hoping to get into the 70, 75 range, and we’ve stalled out at 63”#NASCAR… pic.twitter.com/PRSUrr31xv
— Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneCPT) March 21, 2026
Busch has gone 98 races without a win, the longest drought of his career. When he joined RCR in 2023 after exiting the Joe Gibbs Racing team, he hit the ground running with three wins in his first season. But since then, the trail has gone cold, and victory lane has stayed out of reach.
There have been near misses along the way. Some slipped due to tire wear, others due to car issues, some due to Busch’s own mistakes, and a few unraveled on pit road. At times, it has been one thing leading to another, and the result remains the same.
Voices around the garage, including Kevin Harvick and Kyle Petty, have pointed to the Next Gen car as a factor. From their perspective, Busch has not lost his touch. The car, they argue, has not given him the tools to fight at the front, and in turn has demanded a change in his driving style. With equipment that runs mid-pack, a driver can only drag it so far up the order, especially when not getting the feedback Busch is used to.
That leaves him in a spot where he is trying to make do with what he has, while Hamlin keeps adding to his total. As the series heads to Darlington, the standings may stay the same for now, but if Hamlin keeps this pace, the order could change, and Busch knows it pretty well.
