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Motorsport

Matt Weaver

EXPLAINED: This is denny hamlins final form | Vintage Vibes

Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Heather Gibbs Ty Gibbs Coach Tyler Reddick

Remarkably, at 45-years-old, this is the best Denny Hamlin has ever felt behind the wheel of a race car.

Hamlin earned the 63rd victory of his career on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, tying him for ninth on the all-time wins list with Kyle Busch, but also scoring back-to-back wins for the first time since last spring.

Hamlin is up to three wins this season, and four if you count his non-points victory in the All-Star Race at Dover, adding this is his peak competitive form.

Better than 2010?
Better than 2019?
Better than 2020?

“Uh-huh,” Hamlin said, nodding.

How?

“Just experience,” Hamlin said. “I was talking to Ty Gibbs before the race, and he was like ‘how many starts do you have?’ Probably 40, 30-something, 40. He's like, man, ‘I'm at the point now where I feel like I know what I need’ and ‘I know what I'm looking for.’ And I said, ‘yeah, imagine having four times as many starts as you have.’

“Like, that's the advantage I have every single week is that he feels comfortable where he's at, but just add another 15 years of experience, and you just, you know the transitions of the track and like what happens when it gets cloudy, what happens when it gets sunny, what happens when the wind is this direction, that direction, all those things you just learn over time. It's why we have the upper hand right now.”

That, and clearly Toyota has a massive advantage over the field right now, but Hamlin is also beating three other Joe Gibbs Racing and three 23XI cars that all know exactly what set-up crew chief Chris Gayle is putting into their No. 11 car.

Hamlin is beating them with experience and work ethic and his team owner, Joe Gibbs, could not be any more impressed.

“I know you guys, and all of us, we know how tough NASCAR is,” Gibbs said. “We know these are the best people in the world racing these cars and Denny doing this at this stage of his career, it might be the most exceptional thing he’s done.

“Think about it. Most athletes, they get to a point where they have everything they need (financially) and they just lose their drive and passion. What we’re witnessing with Denny is the opposite of that.

“He's full-blown into the simulator, works extremely hard in our meetings. He means so much to the other young drivers. Just hearing him describe what happens during the race, the way he looks at things… He’s invaluable really.”

Will Hamlin race beyond 2027?

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing (Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

After winning the All-Star Race, Coach’s daughter-in-law Heather Gibbs said she keeps trying to convince Hamlin to sign another contract beyond his expected retirement after the 2027 season.

Coach takes it four steps further.

“I joke with him, we have a five-year deal ready, but really no, I’m dead serious,” Gibbs said. “From my standpoint, any athlete that is really performing like that, I’ve had athletes at different times in football come to me and say ‘hey coach, should I come back and try it,’ and I always give the same advice.

“When you're still performing that way, you never look back in life. So, I'll probably say the same thing to Denny, but yeah, we reached out with that two-year deal (through 2027) and I think we want Denny to stay with us.”

Never say never?

“Never say never is a good way to put it, yes,” Coach said.

When told of this exchange, Hamlin laughed and said Coach was lying about the five year contract.

But seriously though, what would it take for Hamlin to reconsider calling it quits after next year? Theoretically, he would have to make this decision before this time next year.

“I think if -- and that's a big if -- like I'm at this point and this fast at this point next year, it would be a tough, tough decision,” Hamlin said. “That's not saying that I would, but it would be a tough decision because, again, I'm planning for the downfall that I know will come.”

The downfall is some combination of losing his eyesight, reaction time and body pain. He says he already has the latter.

“It's just the other two things have remained really sharp,” he said.

Is there the potential of a certain win threshold that would be intriguing to him to chase? Dale Earnhardt is eight at 76.

“It was certainly a goal to get to 63 or 64 as of a couple years ago, or a year ago, because I knew that would put me by myself in ninth,” Hamlin said. “I ain't getting to eighth, so what am I doing? You know what I mean? I'm content. If I quit tomorrow, I swear I will feel no more gratified than if I go out there and win 72 races -- it makes no difference.

“Nobody cares. You'll be forgotten within six months of when you're not here. I might as well just enjoy life while I'm still somewhat young and be able to be there a little bit more for the kids and what they're doing.”

But again, never say never.

More imminent is that Hamlin looks like a bonafide favorite for that elusive championship. At this point, all that’s left to do in the regular season and pursue Tyler Reddick for the regular season title and top-seeded driver in the Chase for the Championship.

He’s 51 points back after Reddick crashed out of the same incident that nearly ended the day for Hamlin too.

“Listen, I knew the only way we ever could catch him is he was going to have to have bad luck,” Hamlin said. “I said it weeks ago. He had bad luck today. We were in the same wreck. We were turned around backwards. Luckily, no one hit us in turn one. Our car wasn't very good, and we just, we overcame it.

“It's like, you know, I think it's still going to have to -- he's going to stretch it out at San Diego, Sonoma. I still think he's in a really good place, but like if we keep doing this, it will be -- it will keep them interesting and honest for sure.”