The 1999 through 2006 seasons ushered in what is arguably the greatest generation of driver talent that NASCAR has ever seen.
After a relatively stagnant 1989 to 1998 era that saw the NASCAR Cup Series debutants of just three drivers (Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton) that went on to win more than 15 races, 1999 was the beginning an eight-year period that saw the debut of 12 such drivers: Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.
Eight of the 12 went on to win more than 30 races. Four of the 12 won at least 60. Seven of the 12 have won Cup Series championships.
They were the crop of drivers who were raised during NASCAR’s commercial peak. They were the crop of drivers who dominated for two-plus decades and defined an entire generation.
As is the circle of life, they began to fall by the wayside, one by one. Johnson, the most successful of them all, won his last race in 2017 and retired from full-time Cup competition after 2020. By 2018, Harvick, Hamlin, Truex and the Busch brothers were the only ones who continued to find victory lane.
Kurt Busch last won in 2022 and was unfortunately forced into an early retirement later that same year. Harvick last won in 2022 and called it a career after 2023. Truex last won in 2023 and called it a career after 2024. Kyle Busch and Hamlin are the only drivers from their generation that remain as full-time fixtures on the Cup circuit, and it’s been almost three full years since Busch won a race.
Father Time eventually catches up to everyone, but Hamlin has managed to elude him for now; he’s the last driver from his highly gifted generation capable of turning back the clock.
More than 20 years have passed since the start of Hamlin’s full-time Cup career, and it wouldn’t be out of the question to say that he’s performing at the highest level ever.
He’s fresh off a six-win 2025 season, his first with six or more wins since 2020. Six wins are also notable because he’s now tied with William Byron (2023) and Kyle Larson (2024) for the winningest season in the Next Gen car, all at the age of 44.
If there was a time for Hamlin to lose his competitive edge, it would’ve been this season. Last year ended with a Phoenix Raceway race that saddled him with the worst loss of his competitive career and a championship that slipped right out of his fingers. He suffered an even greater loss during the offseason with the death of his father, who had been right by his side for the entirety of his racing career.
If Hamlin had decided to call it a career during the offseason, nobody would have blamed him. It would take a great deal of resilience for him not only to return, but to return and continue performing at the elite level he had before.
We’re only five races into the 2026 season, and it’s clear that Hamlin isn’t going anywhere. He had a top-five finish at Phoenix, the site of his championship defeat, and followed it up with a dominant win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a week later, leading more than half the race despite drawing a speeding penalty at the end of stage one.
That win, his second consecutive at Vegas and his third overall, puts him in even greater elite company. He now stands alone as 10th on the Cup Series’ all-time win list with 61, breaking a tie with Harvick. Hamlin’s only two away from tying Kyle Busch for ninth, and he’s just the fifth Cup driver with at least 20 winning seasons, joining Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Mark Martin and Gordon.
Furthermore, Hamlin has won an absurd 19.23% of his races since eclipsing 700 Cup starts, which is almost quadruple the winning percentage of every other driver who has won beyond their 700th start. He also becomes the fifth driver to have at least five wins after their 700th start, joining Gordon, Harvick, Martin and Petty — all of whom displayed exceptional longevity in their own rights.
He might be 45, he might be in his 21st season and the calendar might read 2026, but that hasn’t stopped Hamlin from continuing his winning ways. And if Sunday was any indication, his hopes of finally winning that championship aren’t done yet either.
As the last driver of his generation to be performing just as well in 2026 as he was in 2010, the moment he either retires or loses that edge — whichever one comes first — will mark the end of an era.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf
Gibbs Toyotas have found something at least the last two years and I’m including 23xi as a gibbs Toyota. Never convince me that bubba is as talented as the 3 hendick drivers and others out there. Never. They all have some kind of advantage now and last year. I tried to bet money early season that Denny would win the championship. And I don’t like Hamlin.
Tried to bet last year is what I mean.