NASCAR Championship Or Not, Hamlin Just Wants More Trophies
Denny Hamlin and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
By Dennis Krause
Denny Hamlin notched his NASCAR Cup Series leading fourth win of the season, Sunday, at Dover Motor Speedway in the EchoPark AutoTrader 400. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had to endure a rain delay, a late race battle with teammate Chase Briscoe and a double overtime finish on old tires for his second consecutive win at the Monster Mile.
Not bad for a 44-year-old who is still as competitive as he’s ever been.
“I mean, I love it. I just love that I’m able to still do it at a high level. I mean, every morning when I wake up, I’m just hoping I still got what I had yesterday, you know? You just never when you get to this age, right?
“I don’t know, last night I was looking at the TV. It was a little fuzzy. I think I was just tired. Oh, man, I’m not losing my eyesight, am I? I get paranoid about little things that might hamper my ability to do things at a high level at my job.
“Every time I get in, like the first stage, I’m just driving through cars, it’s like, We’re still good.”
Between driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and his role as co-owner of 23XI Racing, Hamlin has plenty on his plate. Just days before his Dover win, 23XI suffered a setback in court in its federal antitrust suit against NASCAR. The outcome has huge financial implications for the team, possibly even putting them out of business.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Progressive Toyota and William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Yet through it all, Hamlin has been able to maintain his focus. If anything, all the distractions seem to have sharpened it.
“I’m just so highly competitive,” said Hamlin. “I mean, that’s the only way I can explain it, is that I just don’t know if there’s anyone on the face of the earth that is more competitive than I am. I’m sure there is. I just don’t know them.
“I just feel like when I’m tested, I’m going to give you a little more. When you doubt me, I’m going to give you a little more. Like, I just feel as though I thrive in game time moments, finishing off races like this.
“I just think a lot of it’s just mentality. Anyone that knows me, anyone that plays golf with me or pickle ball or basketball or whatever, or races against me, knows that that is my intensity level. When I’m tested or I have distractions, you’re just going to get a little more out of me.”
Yet to win a Cup Series championship, you’d think that would be a priority for Hamlin - especially at this stage of his career. After being touted as a future title winner season after season, that talk has quieted. Does that mean some have given up on Hamlin winning a championship?
“Maybe, yeah. It’s going to come down to one race or it’s going to come down to when we get into the Final 8, which I expect that’s what our minimum expectations are every year. Do you not have trouble that takes you out of being in the Final 4?
“That’s why I think the regular-season championship is really high. I hold it in super high regard. It’s 26 races. There’s no eliminations, not any of that other stuff, right?
“When you look at the standings, Chase (Elliott) has gone overlooked. He’s been consistent. There’s guys at the top that stubbed their toe. He hasn’t. But you can’t deny that when you look at the racetrack out there today, we were all running like one through five, right?
“It’s not an accident that the same five guys running up front every single week. It’s just a matter of can those five guys make it through this type of format in Playoffs? We couldn’t even make it out of 32nd seed in a bracket. It’s a tough format. When you shorten your seasons into three races, fricking anything can happen. I try not to just, Oh, we’re going to do it this year.
“If we do, we do. If we don’t, we don’t. I care about wins. Trust me, I want more trophies, more trophies, more trophies. When I’m done, I want to be in the top 10 of all-time winners. That will mean more than any other accomplishment I could have.”
Denny Hamlin poses with the winner sticker on his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Other than a Cup Series championship trophy, the one trophy that has eluded Hamlin is the one to be given to the winner of the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. Hamlin’s highly motivated to win it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to go back to back so bad. That’s a track that I’ve just come so fricking close to winning. I just want to cross off all the major racetracks on our schedule.
“It’s going to be hard. I mean, we’re going to have to qualify well. There’s just so many things that are going to have to go really well for us to win that race.
“It’s not like any other conventional track, you have speed, you’re just going to go through the pack. It’s not that type racetrack.
“But the history of it is unlike any other. I mean, even when you’re driving it, you feel like you’re at a historic racetrack. Highly, highly, highly motivated. All I can hope is that something happens this week that derails everything and then I’ll do better.”
After all, it’s trophies that matter to Hamlin.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.