Hamlin is catching some all-time greats
Let’s put the big, pink, NASCAR championship-less elephant in the room aside for now. Because each time Denny Hamlin climbs to the roof of his car, he climbs the ladder among the sport’s greats.
With Sunday’s win at Dover, Hamlin tied Lee Petty for 12th on the all-time Cup Series wins list with his 54th victory. Rusty Wallace in 11th is just one more checkered flag away. Then it’s Kevin Harvick (60), Kyle Busch (63, for now) and Dale Earnhardt (76) next up.
Getting to Dale will be awfully tough. Hamlin is already 43 and is still 22 wins away.
The three-time Daytona 500 champ is showing no signs of slowing down. Sunday’s victory was Hamlin’s third of 2024, matching his 2023 total.
So, where will he end up? One would have to think at least two more wins this year is doable and that would put him in 11th, just four back of Harvick. And he’s in a better situation than Busch right now, with Joe Gibbs Racing producing speed every week. As for the Intimidator? Even averaging five wins per season, it would take four more years to get Hamlin there, if he gets to 56 this season.
But it’s hard to imagine a more gratifying career clincher for NASCAR’S willing heel than eclipsing the sport’s beloved GOAT. Except for that title, maybe.
Let’s go through the gears:
First gear
Last week at Talladega, after pulling out of line late to try and make a pass and being shuffled to the back, Kyle Busch took to Twitter to express his hatred for the Gen-7 cars.
Even after coming home fourth at Dover, his tune hadn’t changed much.
“The aero blocking is just so bad,” Busch said. “It’s so bad and everybody knows it and uses it as a defense item.
“We lost a straightaway to (Martin Truex
Jr.) and that’s what frustrated me the most. He was slow and just would not give me an inch in order to be able to get by.”
Second gear
This time, however, Busch wasn’t alone in airing some grievances.
The usually soft-spoken Kyle Larson voiced some suggestions for change as well after Hamlin held him off over the final laps.
“With the (rearview) cameras and the car it’s easy to air block,” Larson said. “Honestly, if they took the cameras out of the car, that’s one of the little things that could fix it.
“Like when I was leading and (Alex) Bowman was behind me, I’m literally just staring at my camera and when he turns right, I’m turning right. When he pulls down, I’m pulling down.”
Third gear
A second straight DNF for Bubba Wallace and a long, rotten day for Brad Keselowski put both on the outside looking in, in terms of the points standings with the two slotting 17th and 18th respectively.
Meanwhile, a trivia question to stump your friends with: Only three drivers have top 10s in each of the last two races. They are Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric.
Fourth gear
Yet again, last week’s winner tops next week’s track averages with Hamlin’s mark of 4.3 leading the Cup Series over the last six events. Hamlin is also the active wins leader at Kansas with four.