Denny Hamlin has not won a NASCAR Cup Series championship. And he doesn’t need any reminders.
It’s easy to point out the one thing missing from Hamlin’s resume when discussing his career. A resume, by the way, that is NASCAR Hall of Fame worthy without the championship. And it’s easy, particularly for a critic, or a troll, to point to the sport’s crowning achievement as something Hamlin has never been ‘good enough’ to accomplish.
But what is not as easy is to understand why Hamlin has not won a Cup Series championship. And that is what comes to mind when giving Hamlin the chance to think about what he hates having to talk about when it comes to his title aspirations.
“It’s hard sometimes because there’s been years where it’s like, ‘Well, what happened?’’ Hamlin told RACER. “We don’t have enough time in a day for me to explain to you what happened. There are just so many things to the sport that are hard to explain and so many things… I just don’t know if there’s another sport where things are out of your control as much as this one. I try to think of another sport where there are more variables, and I just can’t find one.”
The defeats, and what has at times been downright unbelievable misfortune, has led Hamlin to proclaim he’s “[expletive] cursed” when it comes to the championship hunt. During the Netflix docuseries released in January, Hamlin made such a comment, and felt the same way in August after his team was penalized for an engine infraction by Toyota that cost them 75 driver points and 10 playoff points.
If not cursed, then Hamlin’s career has certainly been snakebitten. Hamlin lost the championship in the 2010 finale after giving up a chunk of points in the penultimate race when his team pitted him for fuel. Jimmie Johnson, Hamlin’s closest rival, finished in the top five and cut the gap to 15 points. Hamlin had led the most laps that afternoon.
A week later, Johnson won the championship. Hamlin didn’t qualify well and spun during the event, damaging his car and putting him behind all afternoon.
In 2014, Hamlin finished third in the championship in the first year of the elimination format. A year later, 2015, he was eliminated at Talladega Superspeedway when his roof hatch came loose and required a pit stop.
Hamlin won six races in 2019 and went into the Homestead finale with momentum after having won the weekend before at Phoenix Raceway. As the race wound down, Hamlin was running second and was quicker than Kyle Busch when the final round of pit stops changed everything. Chris Gabehart had the best intentions – speed – when instructing the team to put tape on the grille of Hamlin’s Toyota. But instead of helping, the misplaced piece of tape caused an overheating problem and resulted in Hamlin having to come back to pit road.
Ross Chastain eliminated Hamlin from the playoffs in 2022 with what is now known as the Hail Melon. The move gave Chastain the positions he needed to advance to the Championship 4 at Hamlin’s expense.
And last year, Hamlin was eliminated in the Round of 8 due in part to a power steering failure at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He finished fifth in the championship.
Hamlin has finished in the top four in the championship standings six times in his career. In those seasons, he won a combined 26 races. In 2010, which was before the elimination format, he led the series in wins (eight). In 2019 and 2020, he had the second-most wins in the series (six and seven, respectively).
The first two rounds of the 2024 playoffs have continued the trend of intrigue around Hamlin and how it will also end.
An ill-handling car in the opener at Atlanta after qualifying in the rear because of a spark plug issue, coupled with a cautious approach, led to a small points gain. He was collected in a first lap crash a week later at Watkins Glen. The pit crew struggled throughout the afternoon in Kansas. A two-tire call at Talladega nearly backfired but it ended up putting Hamlin far enough behind the field that he missed the 27-car wreck and wound up gaining points.
Hamlin is still alive, though, and feeling as confident as ever given the tracks ahead.
“Over time, I’ve [become] at peace with doing the best that I can do and not letting failure just completely drag me down,” Hamlin said. “I’ve had it also [happen] so many times that when you walk over burnt coals, eventually your feet scar up and that scar tissue hardens and you don’t feel the pain anymore. So, maybe that’s happening, too.
“I don’t know. I hate trying to explain why it hasn’t happened. There are just too many crazy things I’d have to explain.”