“Not a chance.” This is what Denny Hamlin said when asked if he would trade his three Daytona 500 wins for a Cup Series Championship. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won 54 Cup Series races, the most for a driver without a championship. However, he admitted that despite his age catching up to him, he can find solace in a championship-less career, if he achieves one goal he has in mind.
Denny Hamlin’s new NASCAR ambition
If we keep the Cup Series title aside, Denny Hamlin’s NASCAR career is filled with iconic moments that any driver would dream of having. In 2020, he became only the fourth driver in NASCAR history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s. However, his 2024 season wasn’t one to remember. After notching up three early wins, he went winless for a large part of the season and missed the championship 4 for the third year in a row. Despite this underperformance, Hamlin revealed his true goal before hanging up the firesuit.
In a recent interview with Chris Mayers, Hamlin was asked how often he thinks about his elusive championship. The #11 said, “Day to day, I don’t think about it. You know, when they talk about the greats of the sport, they’re gonna go down the list of race winners. I really wanna get to 60, put myself inside the top 10 race winners in the Cup Series all time. That to me is the driving factor. If you get to 60 and win a championship, I mean, icing on the cake.”
Denny Hamlin is targeting 60 career wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, which would place him among the top 10 race wins and all-time greats. Hamlin’s wins also include three wins at another crown jewel track, the Southern 500. Hamlin won there in 2010, 2017, and 2021. However, to enter the 60-wins list in 2025 would require a sensational run and he would also be entering an elite list of drivers.
3-time #DAYTONA500 winner @DennyHamlin talks with @The_ChrisMyers. pic.twitter.com/C500rodOsj
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 16, 2025
As of now, Richard Petty stands at the pinnacle of NASCAR Cup Series race victors, and the number of wins goes to an incredible 200. Following behind in second and third place are David Pearson, boasting 105 wins, and Jeff Gordon, with 93 wins, falling into the elite realm of NASCAR. The list continues from the top ten, with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, each having won 84 races; Jimmie Johnson and Cale Yarborough with 83; Dale Earnhardt (76); Kyle Busch (63); and Kevin Harvick (60) have made rather significant contributions to the very rich history of the sport. Notably, all of these drivers have won a championship, so Hamlin’s entry would certainly be a moment in history.
Let’s take a look at Hamlin’s most successful tracks as he aims to enter the 60-win club.
Denny Hamlin’s compatible tracks
Denny Hamlin has racked up some dominating wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, but some tracks stand out more than others. Pocono is one of the tracks Hamlin is best at. It is here where he clinched his first victory in a Cup Series race event in 2006; hereafter, he returned to the same track and went on to complete the double victory by winning his second race there later that year and finally having a total of seven career wins at Pocono.
Hamlin is also known to stand out in short tracks and one of them is Martinsville Speedway, which has been a place of multiple wins with the highlight of three successive race wins under his belt across 2009 and 2010. His first short-track win came at Martinsville in 2008. However, Martinsville has also been a place of misery for the #11 as he saw Ross Chastain perform a ‘Hail Melon’ wall ride in 2022 to overtake Hamlin on the last lap, denying him a spot in the Championship 4.
Next up is Richmond Raceway, a track from the state Hamlin grew up in and one he has thoroughly dominated. The veteran owns 5 wins and 20 top-5 finishes in 36 races on the track and has led over 200 laps on five separate occasions. His most recent win there was in 2024, when he clawed his way up the track after an 11th-place start to take the checkered flag.
While Denny Hamlin’s ambitions might seem well within reach, his start at the Daytona 500 in 2025 proved that it was a realistic goal too. Hamlin was leading the race entering the final lap in overtime. However, a crash involving Austin Cindric and Cole Custer saw Hamlin get wrecked out of the race, with William Byron going back-to-back for the first time since Hamlin in 2019 and 2020. Despite the 24th place finish, the JGR driver can be optimistic for the campaign ahead, as he aims to enter elite territory in the Cup Series ranks.
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