Denny Hamlin needs 4 wins to get to 60. Can he get them in 2025?
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DARLINGTON, S.C. — Less than 10 days ago, one might have wondered if Denny Hamlin would ever make it to his goal of 60 NASCAR Cup Series wins.
Now the question could be whether Hamlin could get to 60 wins before the 2025 playoffs even begin.
When asked after his victory Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, Hamlin said:
“Truthfully it’s really 61,” Hamlin said after his 56th career Cup win. That’s classic Hamlin, moving the goalposts a little to keep him chasing the goal.
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Sixty would tie him for 10th all-time in victories with FOX analyst Kevin Harvick; 61 would give him sole possession of the 10th spot. But after back-to-back wins at Martinsville and Darlington, just how many could the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran rack up this year?
This weekend, the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway. Hamlin got into victory lane there a year ago, a race that was part of his winning three of the first 11 races of the 2024 season before going on a winless drought the rest of the year.
Hamlin has won at two of his historically best tracks, as he now has five at Martinsville and five at Darlington. In the next month, the series heads to Bristol and Kansas, where he has four career wins. At Pocono he has seven and at Richmond, he has five.
“I want to get it as soon as possible because you never know when you don’t race anymore,” said Hamlin, who is expected to race for at least a couple more years. “These wins early in the season certainly are beneficial to getting some pressure off for playoff points and certainly makes me feel good to keep piling on those wins.”
The playoff points are points drivers earn during the year for race wins, stage wins and regular-season points finish that can potentially help them advance in the playoffs. The more playoff points he has, the better chance Hamlin will have of making it to the championship final round and possibly capturing that first elusive championship.
The 44-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver earned his latest two wins in polar opposite fashion. He dominated the race at Martinsville. But at Darlington, he needed a late-race caution and a fast pit stop to put him in the lead for an overtime finish at Darlington.
Those breaks he got Sunday at Darlington were ones he had not gotten during the 31-race winless streak.
But more importantly, Hamlin now has two wins with new crew chief Chris Gayle. And Gayle is who replaced Chris Gabehart, the crew chief Hamlin thought he would have until the end of his career. Gabehart, instead, took a team competition director role after last season.
Gayle had been crew chief for Ty Gibbs. He said he doesn’t worry about getting Hamlin to 60 victories. It was the 55th he was concerned about.
“I’m coming in filling big shoes for Gabehart,” Gayle said. “He’s been with Denny that long. I’m the only change. I’m not naive enough to know that. I needed to win and win early.
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“Last week [at Martinsville] was great. We were able to win with a different setup, with something we worked on, came up with and have car speed, to get that out of the way. This one, I was surprised. We obviously just had the right scenario. You take those.”
Motorsports is all about catching and taking advantage of the breaks.
“You take all the ones that you can steal somehow, then if you get all the ones that you’re the strongest car, you’ll be in good shape,” Gayle said.
And Hamlin is in good shape. He is adding trophies and is also juicing up the drama for fans, playing the role of the heel in the sport. Boos reigned on him during driver introductions and as he got out of his car to celebrate the win.
“I love the fans,” Hamlin said. “They don’t really love me that much. Still, I think it’s just my personality. I understand that. I bring it upon myself most times. But I love it. I love the reaction that I get out of people.”
And he also loves that he’s one step closer to 60. Or 61.
“It still feels good from my standpoint that I can, at 44, go out here and win back-to-back races, be in contention week in, week out and still be at the top of my game,” Hamlin said. “Nothing’s dropped off.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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