Will Denny Hamlin race in the NASCAR Cup Series next season after yet another championship heartbreak?
The answer is ‘yes.’
However, had Hamlin closed out on that elusive championship earlier in the month at Phoenix Raceway, he would have ‘begged’ team owner Joe Gibbs to let him drop the figurative mic and set sail into retirement. It wouldn’t have mattered that he still had two more years left on what he expects to be his final contract.
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Hamlin addressed all the feelings he has experienced int he aftermath of the season finale on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. This was the first time he had pressed record since leading 208 of 312 laps at Phoenix but lost in overtime due to a pit decision scramble.
“Listen, I would have begged Joe (Gibbs) to let me quit had I won that race,” Hamlin said. “I would have. I would have, just because it would have been the perfect way for me to go out. But I, they’re not ready for that yet. They have to have time to work on my succession plan, and obviously, we set a date out now to at least, you know, come to when that is. We know what’s the lifeline left. But I would have certainly really, really asked him to let me end on that one had it gone well.”
And it certainly helps that NASCAR will not subject drivers to a one-race championship next season.
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“It doesn’t make me want to race right now in this moment anymore,” Hamlin said. “They could say 36 races, which they’re not. Get over it, you’re going to get playoffs. But it’s still, the offseason is still so fresh, I want nothing to do with racing right now. I’ve got to get some more time.”
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With that said, Hamlin has already made a sponsorship appearance for Joe Gibbs Racing and plans to be in the No. 11 when the next season begins at Bowman Gray Stadium in February. He just needs time to move on from a season that ended with so much disappointment and personal strife.
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His father is terminally ill, his spare time is occupied with an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, and he’s a 45-year-old with more runway behind than ahead.
“This has been quite the year,” Hamlin said. “I mean, I’m so looking forward to January 1st. Just because, I mean, obviously this year, I’m on track, off track, ownership, new baby, dad, race for championship, lawsuit. It just was, it was taxing for sure. I don’t think I could redo 2025 again. No way.”
He wonders about his long-term health, even.
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“That all, I don’t know, I just feel like I’m doing damage to my internals that I don’t know about,” Hamlin explained. “Does that make any sense? You can’t just have all the stress and it not eventually take a toll.”
A positive outcome of the race is that Hamlin felt like he cemented the respect that both his peers and fans have for him. Hamlin has always been one of the most polarizing figures in NASCAR but his latest championship defeat made even his loudest detractors feel empathy for what happened.
“I think that the fans made it a lot easier,” Hamlin said. “I mean, the competitors made it easier. You know, I got to give so much appreciation to Kyle Larson and how gracious he was during all this. Very humble during all this and certainly during the banquet, giving myself and my team the props that we did deserve in that final race. He did nothing wrong. His team knew that they had to do something to try to win.
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‘You know, they played the game as it was meant to be played. So, we definitely have a deserving champion in the 5 team, they scored more points than anyone else the entire year. There’s, you know, I don’t think anyone should ever question the deservingness of Kyle Larson’s championship because he definitely did.”
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