With six NASCAR Cup Series titles during that time, Jimmie Johnson is the king of the Chase for the Championship era. Since the current playoff formula rolled around in 2014, Joey Logano has been on top of the heap with three championships, just ahead of Kyle Busch’s pair of them. Since postseason racing became a thing in 2004, 11 drivers have been to the top of the mountain at season’s end.
In addition, four drivers whose careers played out mostly or entirely during that same time have joined NASCAR’s elite drivers in the top 15 in all-time Cup wins.
Just one driver is not on both lists.
Denny Hamlin currently sits 11th all-time in Cup wins. His 57 victories are more than Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett or Tony Stewart—all Hall of Fame members—would amass in their careers. Hamlin has wins across all three national touring series (Cup, NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series), something only 40 other drivers have accomplished. He’s still winning at 44; only six drivers have logged Cup wins at Hamlin’s age or older when broken down by months and days.
Hamlin’s longevity is remarkable. His win total is elite.
He should go down in the history books as one of the sport’s greatest of all time—and he will. He’s a certain first-ballot Hall of Fame selection when the time comes.
Except…right now his legacy has one glaring omission: Hamlin is the winningest driver in Cup Series history without a series title, and no matter what else he does, if he retires without a championship trophy, that will dog him.
Among drivers with 30 or more Cup wins, just four have never won a championship to go with them. Three of those can claim extenuating circumstances: Junior Johnson never competed for a championship. Mark Martin had one ripped from him due to a technical violation; had he not had points taken, he’d have won. Fireball Roberts died in a crash in the prime of his career.
Hamlin…simply hasn’t closed the deal.
In 2010, he entered the final race of the season with the points lead. He could afford to spot Johnson a couple of spots on the day as long as he ran with the No. 48. Johnson finished second, Hamlin 14th. Johnson won his fifth straight title and Hamlin had the winter to stew on it.
Hamlin is one of five drivers with five or more championship appearances in the playoff era. He has made the final cut five times, tied for second among all drivers. Every other driver with five or more chances came away with the prize.
Hamlin, meanwhile, has had to endure the speculation: why hasn’t he been able to close the deal? Why has he choked in championship situations, every single time?
The questions aren’t unfair. Whether it’s all in his head or all under the hood, Hamlin’s inability to win a title is forever tied to his ability to win races.
So, what then, will Hamlin’s legacy be if he doesn’t win a title?
His chances to do that are dwindling; he has far more years behind him than ahead now.
But he’s still winning races. With three this season so far, Hamlin needs three more to move into a tie for 10th all time. He can reach that. If not this year, then next, if he chooses to keep racing. Six more wins would net him a tie for ninth with seven giving him sole possession.
Doing so would put Hamlin second among the drivers he raced against for most of his career. Kevin Harvick is just ahead of Hamlin on the list; Busch is just beyond Harvick. Hamlin’s final contemporary on the list is Johnson, whom he likely won’t match.
But head-to-head, Hamlin has beaten Johnson more often than Johnson has beaten him. That doesn’t always translate into race wins for either driver, and Johnson has more of those in races where they have faced each other than Hamlin does.
Perhaps Hamlin simply arrived in the wrong era. He’ll be forever overshadowed by Johnson, though by the numbers, they are closer than just their win totals—but Johnson has those seven shiny trophies, too.
Hamlin is one win away from tying Busch for the most wins for Joe Gibbs Racing, but many, if not most, fans will say that Busch was the more talented JGR driver during the years they were teammates. Busch seemed to be regarded as the team’s No. 1 driver during his tenure.
As far as personality goes, Hamlin didn’t have Johnson’s easygoing class, but he wasn’t as volatile as Busch either. Somewhere in the middle, Hamlin was neither golden child nor bad boy. A little arrogant? Sure. An outgoing personality in a sea of vanilla? Also yes, even if it lacked polish.
Hamlin’s numbers speak for themselves. His 57 wins come across loud and clear and will be even more so if he passes Harvick’s and Busch’s totals before he’s done. While it doesn’t pack the punch that the win total does, the fact that in 555 races against Johnson, Hamlin has the higher finish in 296 is a telling stat as well.
Hamlin is not just one of the best of his era—he’s one of the best ever.
But without a title, he’ll continue to be overshadowed by Johnson and Busch, Harvick and even Logano. He’ll always be the driver who choked when it mattered.
Hamlin has the chance to change the narrative on his career, but he has to close the deal before time runs out. If he doesn’t, he’ll close the door on a great career, but if he can find a way, he’ll go out a legend.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.