Denny Hamlin's Michigan Win Shows He Is Championship Ready
Denny Hamlin, at 44 years old, is in his prime. Through 15 races, the Joe Gibbs Racing pilot has three victories with his triumph at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.
Hamlin won only two or three races per season between 2021 and 2024. Now, he has a chance to top that for the first time since 2020, when he won seven contests.
With 57 wins, he is now Joe Gibbs Racing's winningest driver ever, topping former teammate Kyle Busch. His legacy is certain to get him a seat in the Nascar Hall of Fame. But Hamlin is focused on capturing his first Cup Series championship.
But Hamlin is also focused on winning races. He is 11th on Nascar's all-time wins list, and it is realistic that – should he continue racing for several more years – he could tie Dale Earnhardt at 76 wins for eighth on the list. Busch is the only other active full-time driver with more wins than Hamlin (60).
'It just feels good because I'm going to hate it when I'm not at the level I'm at now,' Hamlin said in his post-race press conference. "I certainly will retire very, very quickly after that. I'm not going to hang around and do it just to do it. This is how I want to spend my last season, is like still winning, you know? I'm going to keep going.
'I got to count on possibly Logano, more than likely Larson overtaking us in wins. You got to budget for at least a couple of these guys that started so much younger than I did to beat us on the win total. I forever want to be in the top 10. It's not going to be forever. There's going to be someone that comes down the line that's going to be the best ever. They're going to win a lot. At least while I'm alive, I want to be in the top 10 for the most wins.'
Hamlin is still incredibly marketable. Not only does he have constant attention as the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry, but he also co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan. To make Hamlin even more marketable, he's the host of the 'Actions Detrimental Podcast.'
The veteran racer just inked a major sponsorship deal with Progressive, which is replacing a large chunk of races that were vacant on the No. 11 car when FedEx dropped its primary sponsorship.
Now, Hamlin is showing he is ready to win his first championship. He's done this before, but something feels different about the Virginia native this year.
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