Denny Hamlin’s got another chance Sunday to get rid of a pesky label.
Hamlin enters NASCAR’s Cup Series championship race at Phoenix (3 p.m. ET, NBC) with 60 career wins and is tied with Kevin Harvick for the 10th-most all time. Three of those wins came in the Daytona 500. Only two drivers, Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough, have won NASCAR’s biggest race more often.
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However, Hamlin, 44, is still chasing his first Cup Series title. And Sunday’s title race could be his last best shot. He’s the betting favorite to win the championship at +200 ahead of Kyle Larson at +250, William Byron at +260 and Chase Briscoe at +375.
Every driver above Hamlin on the wins list has at least one championship, and only Kevin Harvick (tied with Hamlin at 60) and Bobby Allison (85 wins) have just one title. And Hamlin is one of four drivers among the top 30 in career wins without a Cup Series championship.
But 2025 is hardly Hamlin’s first opportunity at a title. He finished second in the points standings in 2010 and Sunday’s race will be the fifth time he’s raced for a title in NASCAR’s winner-take-all final race championship format.
Here’s a look at the close calls Hamlin has had throughout his Cup Series career. Will this weekend finally be when Hamlin is no longer the best NASCAR driver ever without a Cup Series title?
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If it is, Hamlin could be handed the championship trophy while in an ongoing legal dispute with NASCAR. Though settlement talks are reportedly still ongoing, a lawsuit filed by Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR is headed toward a Dec. 1 trial date.
2010 (2nd in points)
The 2010 season was a preview of how hard it would be for Hamlin to win a Cup Series title. He won eight races and two of those victories came in the 10-race playoffs. A win at Texas in the 34th race of the 36-race season put him in first place in the points standings ahead of Jimmie Johnson. But a dominating performance at Phoenix went off the rails over a 73-lap run to the finish. Hamlin needed to save some gas to make it to the end but said he was never told he needed to do so. The lack of fuel saving resulted in a late pit stop. And Hamlin finished 12th as Jimmie Johnson was fourth.
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Hamlin entered the final race of the season just 15 points ahead of Johnson — he could have led by nearly 70 — and lost the title when he finished 14th and Johnson finished second at Homestead after Hamlin suffered front-end damage in an early crash.
2014 (3rd)
Hamlin was one of four drivers racing for the Cup Series title in NASCAR’s first winner-take-all championship race. He won just one race all season, but made it through to the final round, thanks to three top-10 finishes in the semifinal round.
Hamlin had the lead with less than 20 laps to go as he stayed out on the track during a caution flag. However, two cautions in the final 15 laps of the race allowed drivers like Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman with fresh tires to get past as Hamlin fell to eighth and Harvick won the title.
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2019 (4th)
Hamlin won six races in 2019 and qualified on the pole for the championship race as all four title-contending drivers qualified in the top four.
As it turned out, the drivers who qualified third and fourth — Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. — ended up finishing first and second.
We can blame some grille tape for that one. Hamlin was forced to pit late in the race after tape applied to the grille caused the engine to overheat. That relegated Hamlin to a 12th-place finish and last on the lead lap as Busch beat Truex for the title.
2020 (4th)
The 2020 season was the first winner-take-all race at Phoenix. A location change didn’t help Hamlin’s luck. As the three other title-contending drivers led 294 of the race’s 312 laps, Hamlin didn’t lead a single lap. He finished fourth behind Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano as the race went green for the final 112 laps.
2021 (3rd)
Another title race at Phoenix, another year when Hamlin didn’t lead a single lap. His third-place finish at Phoenix was his 25th top-10 finish of the season. But he finished behind Larson and Truex, two of the three drivers he was racing for the title.
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Much like in 2020, the other three title contenders combined to lead 273 of the race’s 312 laps. And Larson, who qualified first, beat Hamlin out of the pits during the race’s final caution flag to take the lead and hold on for his first Cup Series title.
