Before watching the championship slip through his fingers last Sunday in the Championship 4 at Phoenix, Denny Hamlin had bounced back from heartbreak in the season finale six times. But this time, it may be too difficult for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to recover.
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It marked only the second time he had come this close, finishing as the runner-up in the standings. The first heartbreak came back in 2010, when he fell just short of Jimmie Johnson at Homestead-Miami. At 44, Hamlin carried the weight of another lost opportunity, his expression saying more than words ever could.
NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty believes that while Hamlin will eventually come to terms with the defeat, the sting of this near miss will stay with him for life.
Appearing on the Fast Talk podcast on Performance Racing Network (PRN), Petty offered a candid take on Hamlin’s heartbreak. “He will get over it. But it’s going to follow him forever,” he said.
“And this is gonna be that footnote… where it said what could have been what might have been when you look at it. So I think when you look at that, but at the same time, and I just think he’s got more wins in him. He’s got more wins. There’s no doubt he’s got more wins. I just don’t believe at this point in time he’s got more shots at championships.”
Petty’s prediction wasn’t based on doubt about Hamlin’s ability but on the winds of change sweeping through NASCAR. The sport is set to undergo another transformation next season, with a revised championship format on the horizon and new manufacturer developments already reshaping the competition.
In addition, as Petty noted, Hendrick Motorsports, according to an announcement by Jeff Gordon, is preparing to roll out a new Chevrolet model that could shift the balance of power away from Toyota’s favor.
Petty noted that Chevys have something, and they’re excited about it. He added that the late-season surge in Chevrolet’s speed was no fluke. Jeff was excited that at the end of the season, the Chevys had found some speed. So, they’re going to roll out next year at Daytona, Las Vegas, and Atlanta with a new car and speed.
With the sport evolving at a breakneck pace, Petty asserted that the window for a driver in Hamlin’s position, experienced, consistent, but fighting the clock, is narrowing fast. The sport changes so much, and that’s the reason why it’s so tough to say that any driver of Hamlin’s age and position will get another shot.
Still, even in his realism, Petty didn’t close the door completely on Hamlin’s legacy. For all the heartbreaks and what-ifs, he acknowledged the mark Hamlin has already left on the sport. Petty reiterated again that this might have been his last shot at the Championship, but at the same time, Hamlin’s the last guy to win 60 races.
