According to some drivers, winning today is harder than it has ever been. Gone are the days of the 10-win seasons, and even 8-win seasons for the most part. A 5 or 6-win season in the NEXT Gen Era is considered fantastic. So, for a driver in his 40s, such as Denny Hamlin, to consistently outperform his much younger teammates and other competitors and win six races in 2025. That’s an awe-inspiring feat.
Denny Hamlin started his career in the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet racing for the coach, Joe Gibbs, for six races in 2005 before replacing Jason Leffler as the full-time driver for the car the following season. In 2006, Denny would come out swinging and win the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. It wouldn’t take long for the young rookie from Virginia to win points races; he would sweep both Cup races at Pocono that season. Denny would have to wait until 2009 to see another multi-win season, winning four times. Now he was off to the races.
Denny Hamlin would go on to have some dominant seasons racing the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing. He won in every season of his career up until 2018. But he went back on that streak of winning and never looked back despite being the first driver disqualified from a win in over 60 years in 2022.
In 2025, Denny would sign a contract extension with JGR. Surprisingly, he would “formally” announce on his podcast, Actions Detromental, that he only intends to race full-time for two more years. Despite this, Denny shows no signs of slowing down. Despite missing the Mexico City race earlier in the Summer, Denny has scored the previously mentioned six wins so far on the season. Best of all, he has two tracks that have been very good to him over his career coming up.
But let’s focus on the last race, Las Vegas. Race number one of the Round of 8. Denny would qualify on the Pole but fall into the top 5 during the stages. Despite being bitten by slow pit stops, Denny would make his way to the front again for the final restart, and with under 15 laps to go, Denny would run flat out to win his 60th career Cup Series victory. The ultimate goal set by Denny later in his career.
This victory ensures that Denny Hamlin is locked into history as the 10th all-time race winner in Cup Series competition. That makes him tied with 2014 Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick. Why do I say locked into history? Due to the intense competition in the sport today, it is challenging to achieve five or more wins in a season. The closest active driver to catching Denny is the 35-year-old Joey Logano, with 37 wins, who sits 27th all-time. One driver who has the pace in terms of number of wins and could potentially have a chance is Kyle Larson, who currently has 32 wins and consistently lights off 5/6 win seasons.
With two more seasons ahead of him, 9th all-time Kyle Busch sits just three away at 63. 8th all-time sits a bit further at 76. Meaning Dale Earnhardt’s record seems safe, as Denny would have to pop off 16 wins in 2 seasons. And that would be just to tie him. Realistically, if Denny keeps up this pace, I can see him cementing himself as the 9th-winningest driver of all-time. He could do so with 66 to 68 wins before the end of his career.
Image Credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images
