Denny Hamlin has the most wins of any NASCAR Cup Series driver without a championship. But this longtime bridesmaid is acquiring one impressive consolation prize as the 2024 season takes shape: the sport's most influential personality.
On track, Hamlin's making another surge toward earning that elusive title. His 54th career victory came at Dover Motor Speedway Sunday, secured by expert maneuvering late that stalled out runner-up Kyle Larson behind him.
"It's so easy to air block," Larson said. "Not that [Hamlin] was doing anything dirty or anything like that. It's so easy as the leader, especially at a place like this, to shut off the air on the guys behind you."
So, Hamlin cruised to a victory predicted on his "Actions Detrimental" podcast earlier in the week, one of the most popular within motorsports. That confidence can often bleed into cockiness, like last fall's Cup win at Bristol when he taunted booing fans with "I beat your favorite driver -- all of them."
Love him or hate him, Hamlin has the results to back it up. As a co-owner of 23XI Racing, he's won this year with Tyler Reddick and has Basketball Hall of Fame legend Michael Jordan running the team alongside him. In his own car, only William Byron has won as many races this year (three) as Hamlin remains on top of his game at age 43.
It's the same age Tom Brady won his final Super Bowl and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt won his seventh and final championship. Denny Hamlin's 40s have been similarly defined by his focus to beat back competition nearly half his age.
"I know I've got one of the best pit crews, one of the best teams, best engineers and crew chief," he said after the race. "There's no reason I shouldn't expect to win. As long as I do my job, we're going to be part of the conversation."
And Hamlin is joining that conversation, everywhere, taking his role as a NASCAR veteran in stride. He's opened up about the stalemate between NASCAR officials and teams about resigning the charter agreements for 2025 and beyond. He's been critical of Goodyear and the tires they're bringing to the track, leading to less-than-satisfying racing at Hamlin favorites like Martinsville and Richmond.
For a sport often criticized for vanilla personalities, Hamlin's leading the charge for change. His presence sparks an opinion amongst almost any race fan, the type of impact you need if you're going to grow the sport on a national level.
What would elevate Hamlin even more is that title, the cherry on top of a Hall of Fame career. But for a man secure in his personal and professional life, now engaged to longtime girlfriend Jordan Fish, he's reached a sweet spot where that validation doesn't define his overall success.
"Find one driver saying that championships are the same as they were 10 years ago," Hamlin said, referring to the sport's 16-driver, multi-round playoff format. "It's just not. I care about wins and winning every single week because in the end I absolutely would take 60-some wins and no championship over 20 and one. It's just not even close."
Right now, there's no other driver close to the way Hamlin is commanding the sport's attention.
Traffic Report
Green: Chase Elliott. A quiet fifth at Dover leaves Elliott on a roll, now up to third in the standings behind teammate Larson and Martin Truex, Jr. The No. 9 team has the confidence from their recent win at Texas and is building consistency they once had as champions: Elliott hasn't finished worse than 19th all year long.
Yellow: Alex Bowman. An eighth at Dover for Bowman was solid, not spectacular. What he needed was a win that slipped through his fingers after a wild three-wide sequence on pit road forced the No. 48 to back off, squeezed out of a sandwich that left Larson and Hamlin ahead. Frustration from never being able to pass Larson, despite being the faster car, included an angry exchange with longtime spotter Kevin Hamlin as Bowman's winless streak now hit 72 races at top-tier Hendrick Motorsports.
Red: Jimmie Johnson. It was tough to watch Johnson, a record 11-time Dover winner, run around the one-mile track as an also ran. The seven-time NASCAR Cup champion wound up 28th, five laps down, and has yet to crack the top 25 since returning to drive a limited schedule of races in 2023.
Speeding Ticket: Ford. The Monster Mile smashed this manufacturer to pieces as their struggles with the 2024 chassis were never more apparent. Just two Blue Oval drivers finished in the top 10: Noah Gragson (sixth), who benefitted from a late caution to gain track position, and reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney (seventh).
11 races into the season, Ford remains without a Cup victory despite offseason tweaks to their design making them the "freshest" car on the circuit. Only four of their drivers would make the playoffs if the season ended today: Blaney and a trio (Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher) hanging on as the 14th, 15th and 16th seeds.
Oops!
The track's biggest wreck of the day came off a mistake from rookie Zane Smith. The No. 71 Chevrolet tapped Bubba Wallace coming off Turn 2, leaving the No. 23 Toyota helpless as it spun down the backstretch in front of the field.
Bubba Wallace, William Byron & Christopher Bell's wreck @ Dover.
— Andrew (@Basso488) April 28, 2024
Corey LaJoie's onboard pic.twitter.com/yLXHcskVHP
William Byron and Christopher Bell were collected in the mess, leaving all three drivers done for the day. Wallace's frustration was evident after being cleared from the infield care center; a second straight DNF left the driver on the outside of the NASCAR playoff race looking in.
"I guess, turning 30, you got to be a dad, got to be more mature …" Wallace said. "We'll just go on to Kansas, where, hopefully we're not around any squirrels and we go kick their ass."
