The Remarkable Late-Career Surge for Denny Hamlin

If there is one driver in NASCAR right now who deserves more respect for his accomplishments, it is Denny Hamlin. Hamlin is among the most polarizing drivers in NASCAR, largely due to his outspoken personality and run-ins with popular drivers that have made him either a favorite or least favorite. Despite all the boos he gets, he silences the haters with his success in the Cup series, especially over the last several years.

  Six years ago, before the start of 2019, Hamlin was already a Hall of Fame-worthy driver, having accumulated 31 Cup wins and three Crown Jewel victories: one Daytona 500 victory and two Southern 500 victories. However, since the start of 2019, Hamlin has been a different driver. From 2019 onwards, Hamlin has scored 27 Cup victories and four Crowl Jewel victories. This is the kind of dominance you would expect from a driver in their mid-30s, but for Hamlin, he is doing the majority of his damage in his 40s, which is around the point a driver’s career starts to slow down due to age. That is not the case for Denny Hamlin. Not only is Hamlin winning more and adding more accomplishments to his resume, but his overall season-long performance has also taken a step forward. A good example of this is 2021. In 2021, Larson was the best driver that year by having a multitude of race wins and stage wins, but Hamlin was the only driver who could compete with him all year due to his incredible consistency. Hamlin had an average finish of 8.4 in 2021; for comparison, Larson, despite being first in overall points, had an average finish of 9.1. From 2019 to 2021, Hamlin was the best driver during that span as he not only had the best average finish and most wins out of every driver in the field but was also the only driver to make the Championship 4 each year. Those were the last years of the Gen 6 era, which is no longer the Cup Series car, but a new car that has brought a new form of racing to NASCAR has not slowed Denny down.

  Another strength of Denny Hamlin is his adaptability. When the Gen 7 car made its debut in 2022, notable drivers like Hamlin were struggling to adjust to this car since it was different from any previous generation of cars. Towards the end of the season, Hamlin had gotten a grip on the car as he had the most consistent Playoff run of any driver. Hamlin has continued to impress with this car since the end of the 2022 season by scoring 11 wins from 2023 to 2025 (so far) combined. So far in 2025, Hamlin has 4 wins, which is the most of any driver in the field, and is sitting fourth in points. What makes this year even more impressive is the fact that Hamlin has a new crew chief, Chris Gayle. Gayle was the crew chief for Gibbs last year, and Gibbs had a slightly better season than his rookie year, statistically, but it was still not anything special. Hamlin lost his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, who helped contribute to his success from 2019 to 2024, and acquired Gayle instead. Despite many fans thinking Hamlin would start to regress this year, that has been far from the case. Hamlin looks as confident as he ever has, and this could be the year he finally gets a Cup championship.

  Hamlin will never be in the running for most popular driver and will not be considered as one of the best drivers ever; However, we need to respect him for his talent, consistency, and adaptability. Hamlin is a top 3 driver in modern NASCAR, and if he gets a championship before retirement, he will have achieved everything he possibly could in this sport.

  Technical Advisor – Scott Korowotny