By Don Coble, Florida Sports Wire
HOMESTEAD – The gaping hole in Denny Hamlin’s trophy case will remain void of a championship trophy following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
No driver in stock-car history epitomizes the frustration of racing season’s stretch drive. He’s experienced just about every way to lose the championship: wrecks, bad pit stops, slow cars and being outperformed.
Every season finale brings its own heartache. He has 11 top five finishes in the championship standings during his 21-year Cup Series career as a fulltime driver. Sunday’s Championship 400 only added to his list of disappointments.
He knew he needed a miracle to beat Kyle Larson for the championship. It didn’t happen. In fact, Larson wrapped up his third title in six years – and his second in two years – by staying out of serious trouble. Although he cut a tire and hit the wall midway in the 267-lap race, his 12th place finish was more than good enough to beat Christopher Bell, who finished fourth, by 49 points and Hamlin, who was sixth, by 56.
Hamlin led a race-best 87 laps, but his chances faded quickly after his Toyota brushed against the wall at 165 mph later in the event.
Hamlin raced against Jimmie Johnson during his run of seven championships. Now he’s against Larson, who seems to be on the threshold of creating his own dynasty.
“Back then things were different. The teams could build extremely fast race cars,” Hamlin said. “The advantages your team could build into your car were just a lot bigger than what it is today. You can’t build that much speed in your car like you could back then. Those records probably won’t be broken because of how diversified the field is and how much parity is in our sport now. All I can speak to is what I competed against which was one of the best drivers I’ve ever seen and competed against in Jimmie [Johnson].
“I went through this generation’s Jimmie, I think that’s the only way you can describe it. When it comes to playoff time, they perform their best. That’s something that Jimmie used to do. Jimmie was a guy that could get tons of speed out of the car. Kyle is the same – you could argue even more speed. There’s a little more variance in the results because of how hard he pushes it, but he reaps the benefit because he gets lots of wins. That’s something where he’s going to be winning championships and races long after I’m gone.”
No driver in NASCAR history has won more races without a championship. His 46 career wins is ninth best in the sport’s history. The eight drivers ahead of him on the all-time list, including leader Richard Petty with 200 victories, also won at least one championship. The five drivers below Hamlin on the all-time list also won titles.
Second on the wins list with no championship is Hall of Famer Junior Johnson with 50. Hamlin, now 46, admits his window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
“I would think next year would be my last best shot,” he said. “Obviously, we just did not perform at a championship level the last nine races [before Sunday’s finale]. So, this is what you get.
“You just don’t know how long that you’re going to continue. If anyone really did a deep dive in the sea, what happened in the Playoffs or Chase for the 11 years after year, it’s an anomaly of things that just doesn’t make sense, that just don’t happen. Some of it’s just execution. We’re not performing as well, and we’re not executing as well. It’s so frustrating because you know that you’re definitely capable, but you have to still play the game.”
Hamlin’s season was certainly taxing. Although he drives at Joe Gibbs Racing, he and basketball icon Michael Jordan co-own the 23XI race team for drivers Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. They joined a lawsuit with Front Row Motorsports’ Bob Jenkins federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR after a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled both Front Row and 23XI could race in 2025 despite not agreeing to the charter agreement imposed by the sanctioning body.
NASCAR settled and agreed to increase television and racetrack revenues to provide long-term stability. It also said charters would be “evergreened” to avoid future litigation.
Two weeks later, his 75-year-old father, Dennis Hamlin, died from injuries sustained in a house fire. His mother, Mary Lou, suffered severe burns, but she recovered in time to attend the season opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 15.
In the process, Hamlin’s popularity swelled. Once viewed as a complainer, he turned a lot of boos into cheers after he finished second to Larson for the championship.
“The fans have been really supportive over the last few months, and after Phoenix [the 2025 season-finale and how that ended it’s just how many comments and messages I got from fans,” he said. “It made me feel like I was a champion even though I didn’t have the ring and the trophy.”
His next, and arguably his final, run for the championship will start with the none-points Clash All-Star Invitational on Feb. 13 and the Daytona 500 – both at the Daytona International Speedway – on Feb. 21.
