There is no doubt that Denny Hamlin is truly one of the best when it comes to the modern era of NASCAR. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who began his Cup career almost two decades ago, has won 50 races, including some of the biggest crown jewels in the sport. However, there’s one thing that is missing in his legacy.
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That one thing that will turn his legacy from being one of the modern greats to an all-time great – a Cup championship. Hamlin has come close to winning his first Cup title over the years, and more so in the last few years. But for one reason or the other, he simply hasn’t been able to get that.
Now, this is something that may not affect his legacy that much. But as per former NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip, it may be the one thing that stands in the way of him being regarded as “one of the best”.
The legacy of Denny Hamlin may mirror that of Mark Martin as per Waltrip
In a recent interview with Forbes, Waltrip opened up about several aspects of NASCAR and some big names from the sport, past and present. Among those several things, one of them was the legacies of drivers who are nearing the end of their career, like Denny Hamlin.
“And will Denny Hamlin win a championship? Now that he has done it all, that’s a question that everybody wants to ask him about; will that happen for Denny?” He’s obviously one of the best that’s ever set down in a NASCAR car. But he hasn’t accomplished that,” Waltrip said of the #11 driver.
“You know, sort of like Mark Martin, the one thing that was missing in his career.”
Hamlin reached an unfortunate statistic with his impressive feat at Pocono this year
A few weeks ago, when Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway, he accomplished a major feat in his career. Because that win was his 50th win. In his illustrious career, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won the Daytona 500 three times, the Southern 500 three times, and the Coke 600 once as well.
But his 50th win in the Cup, which was his 7th at Pocono, also led to an unfortunate statistic for the #11 driver. And that was the fact that with his 50th win, he became the only driver with 50 wins and no Cup championship to his name.
Now of course, he would aim to win the title at the end of this year in Phoenix, which given the overall pace of Toyotas this year along with the #11 team, doesn’t seem that unrealistic of a scenario.
But then again, he has come close several times in the last few years to the feat. The question is now, will he be able to secure the elusive Cup title and secure his NASCAR legacy as one of the all-time greats?
