Denny Hamlin Says This Is His Superpower After 55th Career Win
Denny Hamlin picked up his sixth grandfather clock at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday and says he knows the clock is ticking on his career. But the final bell isn’t ready to toll just yet.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver now has 55 career Cup Series wins, which ties him with Rusty Wallace at 11th on the all-time list. He’s previously said he’d like to get into the top 10 before he retires, but it doesn’t sound like he’s ready to hang up his helmet, even if that happens this year.
Hamlin hadn’t won a race since Dover last April and following his dominant victory at Martinsville, where he led 274 of the final 275 laps in the 400-lap race, he was asked if he’d though another win wasn’t coming.
“No. I mean, I probably am the King of Irrational Confidence. I mean, generally speaking, I know that when I got the car to do it, I can be the best,” Hamlin replied.
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“I haven’t felt like I’ve held back the car at any point. Certainly I’m not immune to understanding that Father Time is undefeated. Everything that I need to be good to be a race car driver is still really sharp. I feel like it hasn’t happened yet. It will, but not yet.”
Following his victory at the Virginia track, the closest thing NASCAR has to a villain these days stood on the roof of his No. 11 Toyota Camry and held up a flag that said “11 Against The World”
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“It’s just that’s me. I mean, go shoot hoops with me, play pickle ball with me, play golf with me. If I can’t [expletive deleted] talk, it takes away my superpower. I’m not nearly as good,” Hamlin told a reporter who asked if that was fun or motivation. My friends, it drives them absolutely crazy. To me, that part of it, it fuels me and it just makes me feel good.”
Hamlin now needs five wins to tie retired driver Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time wins list, while his former teammate Kyle Busch, who hasn’t won since 2023, is in 9th with 63 wins.
Dale Earnhardt is in eighth place with 76 wins, which seems like an insurmountable gap for Hamlin to close at this stage in his career, unless he can keep Father Time out of victory lane for a few more years.