Denny Hamlin has two years left on a NASCAR Cup Series contract extension he signed with Joe Gibbs Racing over the summer but the 'deep cut' of how he was denied his first championship on Sunday makes it hard for him to envision coming back.
This isn't to say that he is mulling early retirement, but he can't bring himself to think about next season after dominating the championship race, leading it with three laps to go, and being denied it by a late caution and resulting pit decisions.
