In the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin has a chance to separate himself in the sport’s history books. He could do something that’s never been done before: win three consecutive Daytona 500s.
The No. 22 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver is the only active NASCAR driver with more than one Daytona 500 checkered flag, winning in 2016, 2019 and 2020. So in the 2021 race set for Sunday, February 14, Hamlin will go for his third straight Daytona 500 win and fourth overall.
If he does, Hamlin told For The Win this week: “It would probably be the most significant win of them all.”
Arguably the best NASCAR driver without a Cup championship on his resume, Hamlin won his first Daytona 500 in 2016, and he did it in thrilling fashion. Leading a race-high of 95 laps, Hamlin took the lead on the final go-around at Daytona International Speedway and beat his now-teammate Martin Truex Jr. by just .010 seconds — the closest Daytona 500 finish in history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfe0K62uGbA
While a second Daytona 500 win is certainly exceptional, for Hamlin and all of Joe Gibbs Racing, winning in 2019 was a particularly special victory. It came just weeks after JGR co-founder and Joe Gibbs’ oldest son, J.D. Gibbs, died at the age of 49 from complications from a degenerative neurological disease, and the team honors J.D. Gibbs throughout the race weekend.
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And last season for his second straight Daytona 500 win and third overall, Hamlin’s win followed his No. 11 car narrowly missing the horrifying last-lap wreck involving Ryan Newman as the field came down the frontstretch of the 2.5-mile track.
Here is the final lap of the Daytona 500 in which Ryan Newman's car was flipped at the line.
We will continue to keep you updated on his status as we learn more. pic.twitter.com/qkEwQBpoP0
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 18, 2020
“2016 is hard to replicate on how I won,” Hamlin said. “But I just feel like they’ve all had a special place — the J.D. win two years ago, the the way the final lap transpired last year to win.”
With a little more than a week until the 2021 Daytona 500, Hamlin is the favorite to win as of Friday, according to BetMGM.
He’s already in exclusive company with three Daytona 500 checkered flags — Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Allison each have three wins — but a fourth would elevate him to a tie with Cale Yarborough. However, he’d still have a bit of work to do to catch Richard Petty at the top with seven Daytona 500 wins.
“I just hope to give myself that opportunity at the end of the race,” Hamlin said about not being collected in the kind of multi-car wrecks the Daytona 500 is famous for.
“I hope that I’m around, that I give myself a chance to make history because ultimately, that’s what I’m here for. Making history, doing something that no one else has ever done, that’s what motivates me to want to get this one.”
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