Among many things that are common between Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin is the fact that they’re two of the biggest and most successful drivers the sport has ever seen. On that note, both of them top the list in an important NASCAR stat.
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Since 2020, the duo has competed in 23 races as regular season points leaders. Obviously, the playoffs are not included here because that would only make things more complicated.
14 drivers have led the Regular Season Points Standings since the start of the 2020 season.
Here’s a breakdown of who has done it the most.
I excluded the Playoffs bc it makes it too complicated. pic.twitter.com/kwB2zVnbMi
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) March 13, 2024
Tailing Harvick and Hamlin is Hendrick Motorsports ace Chase Elliott with 22 races run as the points leader and Martin Truex Jr, with 10 races run as the points leader.
NASCAR’s current Cup champion, Ryan Blaney, finds himself in 7th place with 4 races while Kyle Busch remains surprisingly low in 13th place with just 1 race run as a points leader.
Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin; partners in championship drought
That the Bakersfield native has not been able to win a championship since 2014 stinks indeed. 2020 was arguably Kevin Harvick’s best season, considering that he won nine races back then. Besides that, Harvick also topped the entire Cup Series grid with 20 top fives, 27 top 10s, laps led (1,531) and fastest laps run (862). Sadly, Harvick failed to advance into the coveted Championship 4 by merely eight points.
Coming to Denny Hamlin, this man has won three Daytona 500s and three Southern 500s, besides winning at Pocono seven times. He has also been named one of the 75 greatest NASCAR drivers in recent years. Still, there is just one thing missing from his impressive resume; a NASCAR Cup Series championship. Harvick is perhaps better off that way; he has one of those in his entire career. And Hamlin doesn’t.
Hamlin is 43. And judging by how competitive he is, Hamlin will be around as a driver for probably another five or six years. Is that enough for him to achieve something that he could not in 18 full seasons? Let’s not forget the fact that Bobby Allison of the famous Alabama Gang won a championship at almost 46 years of age! Interestingly, Allison also won the ‘Great American Race’ thrice, just like Hamlin.
Does that mean Hamlin could somehow repeat Allison’s championship feat? The answer is unknown. What we all know is that a mere championship will not define his long and illustrious career. But again, it will add to it for sure.
