Denny Hamlin’s pursuit of a first-ever Cup Series title is crumbling before our very eyes. He entered the Chase as one of the heavy favorites, but has now slipped down to 4th, with three races to go and form not on his side. Considering he has said 2027 may be his final year in the sport, winning a first Championship would have been the way to go. But now, Hamlin has laid out other — slightly more realistic — objectives to tick off before he hangs up his helmet.
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“I have a personal goal, and that is to win my last start in all three NASCAR top series,” Hamlin said on the Rubbin is Racing podcast. “So I’ve won my last scheduled start in O’Reilly’s. I plan on running a truck race and winning it, and I want to win my final start in NASCAR, which is why I want to quit at the end of next year.
“Knowing that I can still do it at the top of my game. I think that would be the ultimate flex is to win your last races. In Truck, O’Reilly, and Cup,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said.
Hamlin has already completed the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series part of his plan. He has 18 career wins in the series, including his September 2023 victory at Darlington Raceway, where he passed Austin Hill in overtime to win for the sixth time at the track. That remains his most recent win in the series, and he has not raced there since. He now wants to make one final Truck Series start before taking his last shot at a Cup title.
The Truck Series goal is more than just a novelty. Hamlin has two wins in the division, both at Martinsville Speedway in 2011 and 2012. He has won in a truck before, but getting the result he wants in a single start will depend on having competitive equipment, a strong setup, and a clean race.
For Hamlin, a Cup Series championship remains the biggest missing piece of his career. He has 64 Cup wins, including three Daytona 500 victories, but has yet to win a title. He finished runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in 2010 and came close again in 2025, when a strategy call in the Phoenix finale cost him the championship, which Kyle Larson claimed instead.
The 2026 season offered another chance, possibly an even better one. The elimination-style playoff format was gone, and the Chase rewarded consistency, which Hamlin had shown throughout the regular season. Hamlin entered the postseason as the regular-season points leader and won three straight races at Nashville, Michigan, and Pocono. With four wins overall, his No. 11 Toyota has shown the speed to contend for the title. But the Chase has been a disaster.
He finished 18th in Darlington, 9th in Illinois, 8th in Bristol, 3rd in Kansas, 16th in Las Vegas, 5th in Charlotte, and 28th in Phoenix last Sunday, where he suffered a right-tire failure. He’s now 31 points behind leader Larson, with Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe ahead of him.
Hamlin still believes a championship is “doable” and that a win could turn his season around. A strong weekend, with a race victory and wins in all stages, could earn him up to 76 points and help him close the gap in the standings. If he can pull a rabbit out of the hat and win the championship, he could achieve something even bigger than winning races across all three of NASCAR’s national series in his final starts before retirement.
Many in the NASCAR garage see the 2026 postseason as Hamlin’s best remaining chance to win a Cup Series title. The statistics are not in his favour, either.
Since the Next Gen car was introduced back in 2022, no driver who won the regular-season title has gone on to win the Cup championship the following year. That trend could make Hamlin’s final season in 2027 even tougher.
At 45, Hamlin knows he cannot race at the same level forever. He has admitted that his body takes longer to recover than it used to.
“The body hurts are there,” Hamlin said after his Michigan win in June. “During the week, I’m not recovering as quickly.” While he still feels sharp behind the wheel, he wants to retire while he can still compete for wins rather than wait for his performance to decline.
He also wants to spend more time with his family. Hamlin plans to honour his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing through 2027. However, he has admitted that if he continues winning at his current level, walking away could be harder than he expects.