‘Deep cut’ has Denny Hamlin not able to think about 2026

Denny Hamlin has two years left on a NASCAR Cup Series contract extension he signed with Joe Gibbs Racing over the summer but the ‘deep cut’ of how he was denied his first championship on Sunday makes it hard for him to envision coming back.

This isn’t to say that he is mulling early retirement, but he can’t bring himself to think about next season after dominating the championship race, leading it with three laps to go, and being denied it by a late caution and resulting pit decisions.

Hamlin talks about his future in the sport

On Sunday, the 44-year-old opened the door for the questions about his future by saying ‘Right now, I don’t want to race a car again; my fun meter is pegged,’ so it was a natural follow when he was made available on Tuesday morning in advance of the NASCAR Awards.

“I mean, I plan to,” Hamlin said at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge. “I have a contract to, but there’s, at this point, there’s just absolutely no way that I would even … I don’t even think about the race car right now. Just yeah, I’m gonna need some time on this one.”

Hamlin said he just can’t imagine ever putting the time, effort and energy into a single race like he has this month, ever again. 

On the decisive restart, caused by fellow Championship contender William Byron blowing a tire running second, Kyle Larson took two scuffed tires from qualifying because that is the only set they had after blowing a tire earlier in the race.

Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gayle had a full set of sticker tires left and took them, but restarted 10th behind those who took two and even a pair of drivers that stayed out. He couldn’t catch Larson in time as one of his better friends in the sport claimed his second championship.

How does he even begin to debrief that with Gayle?

“The takeaways from JGR need to be that they did a really good job preparing me a really fast car, and gave me all the tools I needed to succeed,” Hamlin said. “So you know, I’ve been there in other years past where (I’ve) just not been fast enough or good enough, and this is just a little different.”

Hamlin has now lost championships in some of the most heart-wrenching ways imaginable.

2010
2014
2019
2021
2022
2025

Those are all years that Hamlin either had a chance to win the championship at the final race or was denied reaching that final race under some gut punch scenario.

“So you’ve seen me lose this in so many different ways, right, from the mechanical failures to just crazy things, but I don’t know,” Hamlin said. “This one just adds to the list. … Like nothing changed the way I felt about myself at the end of that race, and to use Carl Edwards’ quote, like ‘I knew what it was like to be a champion.’ I felt it.

“With five (laps) to go, I knew it was over. I don’t have the trophy, but I knew that that was probably the first time that I was forced to perform a certain way under this format, and I did it, and there’s nothing else I possibly could have done to change the outcome.”

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

Hamlin said he briefly jumped on his X account to see what people were saying and recognized that he garnered a lot of support and sympathy from the fan base at large.

“I mean, I’ve looked at it, and obviously it’s more pain,” Hamlin says. “I try to look at it for a little bit and then I just stop, because it just, it does get into my feelings a little bit. But I love our fan base. I mean, I think that they certainly have been very, very supportive of me over the last really few weeks, and my fans for quite some time.

“But yeah, I’m a bit torn as well because also my friend won the championship, and it’s not being talked about that much. But I think that sometimes people have a tipping point, right?”

Congratulating Larson

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images

Hamlin even briefly attended the Larson victory party.

“Just to pay my respects,” Hamlin said. “I would hope that he would have done that for me. I think he would’ve. He’s been a great friend of mine. I hate for him that kind of the attention is shifted a little bit away from him and his championship, because he’s definitely … there’s a difference in deserving and should have been, right?

“I think that there’s not one person that should ever question his deservingness of being a champion. That’s what I don’t like to see. But I mean, he’s a great friend of mine, and if it wasn’t me, I was definitely happy for him. I was just trying to do the right thing as a friend, and regardless of my feelings and emotions that evening, it was important for me to go show him support.”

Larson was touched by the gesture.

“It truly meant a lot. It really did,” Larson said. “I remember the last time I won a championship, you know, he didn’t come out, but he sent me a really nice video message, and it meant a lot to me, and I understood how tough and challenging even that moment probably was for him. So, you know, fast forward to this weekend, a much tougher defeat, and I didn’t expect him to go out. He didn’t need to, but I’m glad he showed up. I think it showed how big of a person he is, and how strong of a person he is to come out, suck it up and be out there.

“So yeah, we got to talk for a minute, and it was awkward, right? Like really, I was just speechless. I didn’t know what to say. I don’t think there was anything I could say to try to make him feel any better, and I could see the pain — all that. But it definitely meant a lot, and I think it meant a lot to everybody in there.”

“This will hurt”

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Hamlin says he typically ‘gets the itch’ to race again ‘come Christmastime,’ but this winter will be a different process.

“I would think this would probably be the same,” Hamlin said. “When I need to go do something, I will.”

What helps is that the NASCAR Awards is just two days after Championship Weekend this year and not in early December so he can move on quicker but Tuesday night is going to be tough.

“This is the only sport that makes the losers celebrate the winner,” Hamlin said. “This will hurt.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team