In this moment, Denny Hamlin has a contract with Joe Gibbs Racing that has him in the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE through the 2027 season.
That’s 67 more points races remaining to score as many wins as possible and challenge for that elusive NASCAR Cup Series championship. On Monday, he predicted that he would reach 67 career victories after reaching 61 on Sunday at Las Vegas.
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Why that number? It’s purely based on his career averages.
“Just averages over the years,” Hamlin said. “If you average the last 10 years or something like that, it’s about 3.5 wins a year. That puts me right around that number. That’s assuming that I don’t wake up in 2027 and have a declining skill set. That’s why it’s still a goal. It’s not the pie in the sky, but it’s still going to take some work to do.”
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What is pie in the sky, as he put it, is Dale Earnhardt’s 76 or Jeff Gordon’s 93.
“I think it’s pie in the sky, realistically, I think that, you know, given the runway, Kyle’s (Busch) career – he’s still got more years to go than I will,” Hamlin said. “He’s capable of running and winning long after I’m gone. I think I’m kind of where I’m at, and where I think I will be, but you just never know.
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“I mean, each win stacks up and, you know, 50 was a goal at one point. So, you just keep moving, keep moving the bar as far as you can. I think that I’ve certainly got more wins than what I would have imagined. It’s just now can we, can we get the big prizes at the end of the year? That’s the only goal left to have other than the Brickyard is certainly one that still is mindful of me personally, of where I’m at.”
So with all of that said, with Hamlin still very much looking competitive at 45 years old, is there any reason to expect he might reconsider racing past his current contract after next season ends?
“I’m not really sure,” Hamlin said. “I think that I’ve given Gibbs enough of a heads up that they’re working on the plans for beyond. So as long as those all go as planned, I would, I still assume that the end of ‘27 is it.
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“I just don’t want to go to my last half of the year or year just like, can’t wait to get out. If I could end on notes like we have like seasons like this one is starting, then that would be a successful last year for me.”
But he also hedged that answer.
“Well, I mean, things always change,” Hamlin said. “You just never know, but it’s what I would like, but again, I don’t know all the moving parts and pieces beyond what happens between now and bout 20 months from now. So, you just don’t know, but I thought that was a good enough timeline and enough heads up that, that they could make plans.”
Most importantly though, Hamlin does not want a retirement tour, and to be celebrated each week.
“No, no, I’m good on that.”
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